FuNsIzEd
by Aspendragon
Summary: Penny is a little arrogant for her age at 8 years old, but like any child, curiosity gets a hold of her when she decides to track down Pegasus to learn of her true parentage. What'll Pegasus do when he finds out why she's on his island?
1. InTrOdUcInG pEnNy

**FuN-sIzEd**

_Aspendragon_

_Yu-Gi-Oh_ © Kazuki Takahashi

_Penny_ © Aspendragon

**InTrOdUcInG pEnNy**

My name is Penny.

In all honesty, I am probably the most adorable little blonde girl I know – granted, Japan's full of dark-haired people. I'm obviously not native here however, my "parents" hadn't confessed yet but I KNOW I'm adopted. Seriously, did they think I was oblivious to how _unrelated_ we appeared?

Mama, Anako Kimura, is fluent in several languages and teaches linguistics at Tokyo University. She was once the pride of the Miyagi family bloodline with her tiny waist, perfect skin complexion, sleek black hair, and delightful dark eyes. She is a playful woman who stood at about five-three and enjoyed telling jokes in different tongues then explaining their meanings.

Father, Misaki Kimura, is older than Mama by a few years and had been born into a poor farming family. Hence, when they married, Mama was disowned by the Miyagis. Sucks, huh? Considering the Miyagis are too wealthy for their own good, I sometimes find myself daydreaming about how things would have turned out if Mama had inherited the thousands of pieces of currency that makes the world go round.

Unlike Mama, Father had a receding hairline and a withered face. We weren't terribly poor, but we were at rock bottom of the middle class society.

Another clue that gave away that lack of relation between me and my parents, is most definitely my name.

Penelope Lucy Kimura. That's English – or so I discovered on the Internet, but Father said never to trust it, so I'm cruising on along with what my gut says…and it's saying English! Kimura became my surname after they adopted me, I never was able to figure out what my original name was as Mama and Father had apparently hidden all my records away somewhere.

Either way, I'm a persistent (and in some cases annoying) child. I guess at some point in my life, I decided to take charge of it (was it my third birthday?)

Personally, I could care less of who my biological parents are though. You may find that fact odd, but I couldn't help but grow curious whenever I broached the subject of orphaned children and the reactions my parents made. Most of the time they just tense up – rather noticeably too. Once or twice, Father told me to drop the topic instantly.

Who wouldn't be curious though? What if my parents were terrorists or serial killers? That would make me the offspring of the criminal minds and I might be wanted because of my bad genes or perhaps I have something the FBI might want to obtain! All right, a little too much daydreaming on my part – but still!

I sighed, my eyes trained on the living room window. It had been raining since this morning and it was nearly four in the afternoon and there was _nothing to do_…

Most parents (especially in Japan where entertainment is small and fun-size) would buy their children something to amuse them for hours on end on dreaded days like this. But alas, no, Mama and Father refused to purchase any sort of gameboy or playstation – not even trading cards! All I have is a small television, which only has twelve channels to begin with and my time watching it is limited to an hour a day…

Kids at school say I'm stuck in the middle ages and in a way, they're not joking.

At the moment, I was lying on my stomach reading a graphic novel I stole from Father's study he had been hiding. A couple pages into I knew exactly whey he had been hiding it, written by some guy – _Sohma Sat_ * – whom I had the feeling had very many dirty thoughts. Closing the book with a satisfying _clap_, I bounded up to Father's study and returned the book to its spot on a bookshelf.

_See Father? That could have been avoided_, I thought smartly, but I knew I would never say that for fear of him learning of what I had just read (and saw.) Blinking and shaking my head I attempted to block out those perverted images, meanwhile my eyes roamed along Father's bookshelves. I had all the time in the world till six before Father returned home and Mama was in class, it was only me and Auntie Ai – Mama's older sister who hadn't disowned her like the rest of her family. She was downstairs – asleep – on a futon in the guest room.

Auntie Ai had recently come down with a fever, but under her persistent urging my parents left the house to go to work per usual. Being kind in return, I didn't disturb her when she fell into slumber – instantly oblivious to how unsupervised she had left me in the world.

Smirking in my own childish way, I ran my right pointer finger down the spines of several novels, some weren't even in Japanese. In school, my class had just started studying English and Chinese, so it was natural that I wasn't understanding all the books just yet – of course, I was assuming these books were in English or Chinese.

Finding nothing interesting I turned to leave, but a small piece of paper sticking out of my father's desk drawer caught my attention. It was nothing of great importance, I just didn't like disorder.

Reluctantly I approached the drawer, I wasn't allowed in the study to begin with, so I'm certain the desk was absolutely off limits at all times – _but that stupid piece of paper…_

I glared down at it, the harmless sheet sat there; unmoving.

_What would be the harm in it?_ I casually asked myself, I would just be putting it back in. Despite that logic, my mind and instinct were battling against one another, in the pit of my stomach was an ulcer of worry and curiosity. Why was I getting so anxious? Was it because I was rebelling against my father's wishes by being so close to his personal matters or by being in his room?

Or it could be because I was hating a piece of paper for no real reason that I knew of.

Me versus _Evil_ Piece of Paper – wow, look at that originality. Studio Ghibli should hire me!

Several seconds later, I finally lifted my hand and shoved the paper back in, but not before I spotted the disarray inside the drawer…

"No," I stated defiantly, growling in my mind as I forced my feet to take me to the door. "No,"

A second later I was rummaging through the drawer in a desperate attempt to organize it.

Following the first drawer, I went through the next few – for the love of my father (and fear of his belt) I messed up everything I organized after I was through so he wouldn't notice anything different. One vanilla folder, however, halted my frantic mission in the bottom drawer.

**PLP**

_PLP? Penelope Lucy…P?_ My mind was screaming at me to leave it, but the initials were almost identical to mine – was it coincidence or…?

My fingers fumbled on the edge, ready to flip it open and read its contents. Sometimes I hate how intelligent I can be, how many other eight-year-olds wander through file cabinets and pull out boring folders full of paperwork?

Name any? Didn't think so.

My parents always said I was a prodigy and were always claiming how proud they were of me, but whenever I grew too curious and asked too many questions, they grew uneasy and nervous – as if afraid they might say something they shouldn't.

_I want to know, _I slid a finger in between the vanilla folder's sides then flipped it open. There was a packet stapled together in the upper, left-hand corner. It was in English (I recognized the symbols from the English alphabet) the entire thing…but at the beginning of the year, I was taught to write my name in English. Therefore, I recognized my name on a line – _Penelope Lucy_. Yet the surname I learned to write, _Kimura_, wasn't beside it.

"Penny!?" It was Auntie Ai, in all her ill glory, crying out from the guest room. I ran out of the study and into the hall. Heart about to pounce out of my chest.

"What is it?" I yelled back.

"Oh…just making sure you were still in the house!" Auntie Ai replied before probably resuming her quest in Dream World. Shrugging off the panic that had risen along my spine, I went back into the study to scan the packet again.

I concluded the papers were my adoption forms, but I couldn't translate them. On a post-it note, I copied down the name starting with a _P_ that was written in place of _Kimura_. Putting the vanilla folder back where I found it, I stuffed the post-it note in my denim pants' pocket as I left the study.

Later that day and well into the evening, Mama and Father returned home. Auntie Ai had cooked dinner and was serving it as we sat down at the table. Several aromas flew by my nose from the food, including a dish of fried rice and the cooked vegetables accompanying it. Licking my lips, I descended on the buffet. Conversation instantly started as my parents and aunt allowed me to dig in first.

"How was your day then?" Auntie Ai had started, within seconds my plate was full of food. Father sighed and Mama did the same.

"Dreadful, there was a false fire alarm – it didn't help that it was _sweltering hot_ outside." Mama replied, her facial features were slightly red from the sun.

"One of my clients had a fit because he didn't get a handicap parking spot and I was outside for two hours trying to reason with him." Father sounded rather peeved as he told his small story, the corners of his lips twitching with agitation at the reminder of the unfortunate event. Mama patted his arm reassuringly. Only a small business family doctor, Father had to deal with patients of all ages and apparently, with their overage temper tantrums as well.

"How was Penny?" Mama questioned Auntie Ai, who had a red nose from sneezing. Auntie Ai smiled warmly.

"Perfect as usual," she answered and Mama nodded approvingly in my direction. Every day, she asks and every day she gets the same answer. I often wonder if all parents are like mine…

"There's nothing to do – it's been raining _all day_!" I stated with a practiced stare at my parents, Father shrugged.

"Find some way to entertain yourself kiddo, it'll be like that for the rest of the week." He said, thankfully school started back up again tomorrow and half my day would be occupied.

"I'm just saying, all I had to do was walk around and look for something to do." Now I was whining, eager to make my parents understand how boring today would have been or – if they dare let their imagination take over – how close I could have been to scour Father's forbidden study.

Of course, they still don't know about my adventure through Father's messy drawers. The post-it note was still in my pocket, literally claiming I once had different parents.

"I guess…" Mama glanced in my father's direction nervously, possibly in on the secret too, Auntie Ai paused. "…it wouldn't hurt to get a gametoy-"

"Gameboy," I corrected, trying not to get excited over the idea of owning a game console of my own.

"Anako dearest…" Father's eyebrows narrowed and his food was at his mercy of frustration he was obviously dealing with in his head. Mama frowned.

"It would just be a small toy for her to play with, all the other kids have one." Mama said reasonably, her pretty face marred by her frown. I turned my gaze on Father, curious to see his reaction as my mother finally suggested getting me an electronic at long last. For a moment, Father remained silent, but shook his head in the end.

"Penny is not like other children, Anako." He said adamantly, a hint of pride in his voice. "I don't want her brain addled by those devices when she could be doing something productive."

My hopes went south, but they weren't very high to begin with. Mama had a little more of chance than I did when begging my father for something, but she lost this battle – for now.

Dinner continued on in tense silence. Afterwards, I went to my room.

I was sitting on my bed when Father knocked on my door.

"Yes?" He entered then saw me on my futon regarding him with an upset expression. He sighed, not liking his little girl being upset because of him.

"You know I care about you," he said as he sat down on the futon at my feet, his hands folded in his lap.

"I know…" I muttered, staring up at the ceiling to avoid making eye contact with Father.

"Let's make a deal," he stated, I raised my eyebrows at him.

"What deal?" He smiled.

"If you stop asking so many questions, you can have more time on my laptop." My eyes lit up at that and Father noticed, for two different reasons we were happy with the idea and I wasn't about to let the opportunity pass.

"It's a deal!" I said excitedly, I glanced at my alarm clock.

"It's only seven – can I get on it for a bit now?"

"Sure," I ran out of my room, leaving Father chuckling behind me. From experience, I knew Father left his laptop in his (really expansive) briefcase beside the sofa after he came home from work. It was normally after I went to my room at night that he fled to the privacy of his study with it – how do I know that? Simple, what good, misbehaved kid _honestly_ goes to sleep on demand?

Bouncing on the sofa, I pulled the briefcase up on my lap then unzipped it, the silver computer latched firmly inside. Flipping the screen up and turning the power on, I listened intently as I heard Father's footsteps escape into his study on the next floor. Mama and Auntie Ai were talking enthusiastically over the sink as they did dishes in the other room. Licking my lips, I slipped out the post-it note.

With shaky hands, I got on a translating website and typed the name in the English panel. Translating it into Japanese, I discovered the word was _Pegasus_. Quickly stuffing the note back into my pocket, I hastily went to _Google_, _Wikipedia_, and several other search engines. All I got were various pictures of winged horses and crazy people from websites called _Myspace_ and _Facebook_.

I was about to give up hope (I had scrolled through all the users in the alphabet under both social websites believing my parents might have profiles) when I clicked on a link that led me to a news site.

There was a silver-haired man with orange eyes holding up a trophy to some weirdo with a bowl-haircut and dorky glasses on _The Top most Recent News_. My heart jumped and my tongue seemed to swell beyond working function. The title of the article accompanying the picture stated _Duel Monster Tournament Champion Weevil Underwood SQUASHES Dinosaur-Duelist Rex Raptor._

Frowning, my fingers rubbing the mouse pad. Before I could click on the link for the rest of article to perhaps pull out the name to the silver-haired man, Mama and Auntie Ai entered the room.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready for bed, Penny-chan?" Mama asked, I didn't bother changing the site as she and Auntie Ai rounded the sofa to peer over my shoulder. Their reactions were a good sign.

Mama softly gasped and Auntie Ai's eyes narrowed on the screen.

"What are you doing, Penny-chan?" Auntie Ai questioned, I looked up at her innocently.

"What I always do when I'm on Father's laptop – he said I could – surf the net. Mama," I looked over at my paling mother, eyes as big as saucers. "Can I try this _ Duelist Monster_ thing?"

"Um…I'm not so sure, put that down now – you have school tomorrow, go to bed." Without a good night from either of the adults, I zipped the laptop away then hurried up to my room. My suspicions were correct then, of course, I knew the chance of the man being familiar to them was one to a million, but I had to test it out.

Now that I've seen their reactions – especially to _Duel Monsters_ – I'm beginning to understand my parents' aversion to my having anything to do with the outside world of entertainment in general. Granted, this Pegasus guy on the television could just be a well-known relative of my actual, biological parents anyone would know and the connection to them might be what unnerved Mama and Auntie Eye when I saw the silver-haired man.

_After all,_ I thought as I slipped in my pajamas, _there's no way I could related to someone famous or a man that girly looking!

* * *

_

_* Sohma Sat – _One of the many (although made-up) psuedonyms Shigure Sohma (Fruits Basket) uses throughout his writing career._ Sat_ came from Kisa Sohma's nickname (_Sat-chan._)


	2. Duel One: AbOaRd

**Duel One: AbOaRd**

Needless to say, I no longer have access to the laptop – or any internet whatsoever.

The next day, I found myself at school once more. It was a typical day, the world outside my classroom window was still a little bleary and gray as it was supposed to rain the rest of the week. Sighing, I absently listened to my sensei's monotone voice as it rasped on about math, or was it Spanish, no wait…I'm not taking Spanish…

Are there even any Spanish courses in Japan? Probably.

_I wouldn't mind going to Spain some day…_

That was how my day went up until lunch time, when things started getting interesting.

Kids around my age could always be seen playing card games while eating our bento lunches, before I never really cared considering I could never participate. However, I had more intentions now. Walking over, I grew somewhat reluctant until I recognized one of the girls who was, in fact, playing against another classmate.

Ran was her name, not nearly as clever as I, but she was a decent friend I guess - I don't play around with kids outside of school much if that explains anything. Approaching the table, I narrowed my eyes on the cards. They depicted pictures of highly-detailed creatures and were all different colors. I guessed the colors categorized each card, they had funky symbols on each that I didn't understand.

Ran, to whom I was peering over the shoulder of, noticed my shadow and acknowledged me with a welcoming grin – or was it a grimace?

I don't remember, are we friends or acquaintances?

Was that a welcoming grin or a forced out smile?

Because I can't read humans as well I can read a book, let alone remember the last time I associated with them kind of perturbed me. It also bugged me since I wasn't sure, I didn't like being uncertain, guess that's part of my snobbier nature. When I don't know something, I tend to research it until I master it. Plus I have a longer attention span than most of my age group, which obviously helps.

"Hi," I greeted, Ran blinked.

"Hey, um, Kimura-san." My eyebrow twitched.

_Definitely acquaintances. I feel shallow,_ _oh well,_ I smiled back, why did she seem so unnerved?

"What are you guys playing?" I felt rather stupid, not knowing the game even though I had a strong hunch about the title.

"Duel Monsters," the kid Ran was opposing, Minoru, claimed. Pegasus, the silver-haired man, flashed across my mind.

"Did you hear about the tournament?" another spectator piped up, giddy from excitement. Minoru and Ran beamed.

"Yeah, but I wished Rex would've won – bugs are gross! Dinosaurs are WAY cooler!" Ran exclaimed, Minoru stuck his tongue out at her.

"You're such a girl," he stated, she stuck her tongue back out at him.

"Proud of it! I'm also proud to say my Getsu Fuhma-" Ran whipped out a card she had been holding in her hand then placed it on the table in between her and Minoru, "-takes out your Saggi the Dark Clown! Putting your life points at zero!" Minoru yelped out in surprise.

"Man! Knew I should've put him in Defense Mode…" he moaned.

"Nice, Minoru-kun! You lost _again_!" a boy laughed as the spectators challenged each other, now happy to battle with their own cards. I stood there unsurely, Ran stood up and gave me a thoughtful look.

"Do you have any cards Kimura-san? I'll duel you," she asked politely, I was almost taken back by her thoughtfulness, but unfortunately, had little to act on it.

"I don't, my parents don't let me have that…kind of thing." Was my reply, Ran nodded in understanding, but her face brightened as a look of triumph stretched across her features.

"You do have at least an allowance don't you?" she questioned.

"Of course, but I have to invest it."

"_Invest?_" Ran said it as if it was a new English vocabulary word she would have to memorize by the end of the week. I changed the subject.

"Nevermind, I manage to save some of it though, why?"

"Do you wanna go and buy some cards later? I'll go with you," she said, a warm sensation flooded into my chest.

"You would? Seriously?" For a moment, images of my parents with upset faces appeared in my head, but I quickly pushed them aside. I'm not an adult, but I should be able to at least decide the way I should entertain myself right? Besides, it's my money they give me.

"Yeah, there's a game shop down the street, I'll meet you in the front yard after school."

"Hey, did you hear Pegasus is going to hold a tournament soon? On an island somewhere?" the boy, Minoru, said as he conversed with a pair of boys a little ways from the us. Ran and I looked at each other, and for some reason, my heart was pounding harder over the concept.

Two hours later…

"Don't get your hopes up, Kimura-san-"

"It's Penny, Ran," I corrected her, it was after school and we were making our way to the game shop Ran talked about earlier. She grinned shyly.

"Okay, but don't get your hopes up, even if you do become good with duel monster cards, you can't enter the tournament." Ran explained, I peered over at her.

"You had the same look I did, you want to do it too!" Ran shook her head.

"I know! But we're too young! The tournament Minoru-kun was talking about has one of those age-limit things. I think we have to be fourteen to even set foot on the boat to get there."

"So it really is on an island…"

"Yeah, what did I just tell you?" I smirked at her, she smirked back. I felt we were going to be good friends, but in my case – my first real friend.

"Here we are," Ran announced five minutes later, we were in front of a small store. Through the sliding glass doors though, I could see shelves lined with protection glass over the contents throughout the store's interior. I gulped, I hadn't realized how popular this game actually is. Meanwhile, as Ran led the way in, she explained the finer details of the game and the cards.

"You have to have at least forty cards – of whatever amount of monsters, magic, and trap cards you want-but you can only have three of the same card in your deck, are you following?" I nodded absently as we walked down one of the few aisles, totally transfixed by all the pretty packaging.

My mind began reeling, thinking of all the possibilities this little game could lead my life to. Ran had told me the boat would be leaving in a week and a half, I was already planning on stowing away since I was underage.

Ran rambled on, but jumped when a small man appeared from behind the counter in the back of the store.

"Hello," he greeted, his gray hair tucked under an orange bandanna with a mustache under his nose. Was it me, or were his bangs shaped like lightning bolts? Dressed in green overalls and a beige, collared shirt, I assumed he must be the manager of the game shop.

"Hi, Mutou-san! " Ran greeted happily, the man's violet eyes widened in recognition.

"Good afternoon, Ran-chan. Weren't you here just a couple of days ago? You need to save _some_ of your money," he inquired good-naturedly, Ran frowned then smiled.

"I'm not here for me, Mutou-san. This is my friend – Penny, she doesn't have any cards." She explained, Mutou turned his gaze on me and smiled warmly.

"That's a shame, every kid should have a deck of cards to call their own. Let me know if you need any help," he said before vanishing into the back of the store again, I looked over at Ran.

"How much should forty cards or so even cost anyway?" I asked, she smiled.

"Oh, maybe about three thousand yen…"

"That's…nice…" _There goes my monthly allowance…_

_I'll miss you, I'll miss you, I'll miss you…_ I thought as I counted each individual piece of yen before handing it to the older man, Mutou-san took it then counted my change before finishing the exchange.

"Enjoy your cards!" he cried out happily, the three of us thoroughly oblivious to how this would be the last time we would speak to each other in a while. With several small packages of duel monster cards in the game shop featured plastic bag, Ran followed me outside.

"I can't believe there's an age limit," Ran piped up suddenly, I sighed, I knew where this was going. "Maybe I – or we – should stowaway! We might not be able to duel…I heard there was some sort of glove or something and you had to have an amount of something or another…" She sure is talkative, but dang, it would be nice if she knew what she was speaking about!

"You're not planning on stowing away then?" I replied, she blinked, her big brown eyes on me. My eyes were different than most people's, mine weren't violet or brown or black or green, mine were orange – none of the Kimuras held such a color gene, but Pegasus had orange eyes (or at least one orange eye considering only a single eye was visible.)

"What are you saying? _You ARE going to stowaway?_ Penny-chan! That's not a good idea!" Ran instantly went into panic mode, since she was my age I guess that's pretty natural for someone who doesn't think outside the box and might be tempted to tattle. A thought raced through my head and sighed, giving in.

"Look, I _do_ want to stowaway, but not to duel and become famous or whatever, a moment ago you were all for it!" I said, even though the idea of being on television seemed rather fascinating to me. Ran looked at me as if I just told her I had a pet tarantula and asked if she wanted to hold it one day.

"Penny-chan…I don't know, are you serious?" I gave her a stiff look, "oh, you are…"

"Look, you know how my parents are – everyone at school does since I do little in comparison to them like watching T.V. – I – I don't think they're actually my parents." I sounded lame, like I was one of those pitiful actresses who feels down because she just found out she had been orphaned (from what little time I spent watching T.V. I learned), but on the other hand, I'm not down and could care less if I was abandoned on a doorstep – I was just curious.

"Ooooh, okay, so you think your _real parents_ will go to Duelist Kingdom then?" It was if she was in a dream, Ran transformed from anxious and nervous to excited and devoted. "Do you think they'll be more fun than the ones you have now?"

I nearly face-faulted, I hadn't even considered that, but I guess that could be a perk right?

I recalled the number of times I couldn't watch T.V., play or even buy a game console, surf the Internet for games on Poke'Mon, or even invite friends over.

_ANYONE could be more fun,_ I thought glumly. Ran grinned.

"It'll be an adventure, Penny-chan!" she cried, I smiled awkwardly.

"That sounded a _little_ cheesy Ran, don't say it again please."

"Right! Hey!" Ran caught sight of someone behind me and pointed an accusing finger. I jerked around to find someone approaching us. It was Minoru.

"I want in!" he exclaimed, I raised an eyebrow.

"On what?"

"Operation Stowaway!" He stated promptly, Ran frowned and put her hands on her hips.

"No way!"

"Why not! I wanna go too!"

"So does the rest of the kid population!" Ran retorted, Minoru huffed.

"I don't see why I can't go, we're friends right?" He swung a arm over my shoulders and I couldn't help but glare at him.

"What's your deal?" I snarled as I ducked out from under his arm, my new cards still lying snugly in the bag hanging from the crook of my left arm.

"My deal is I wanna go and I might as well have company, I'll have you know I've been planning to stow away before the two of you – so _you_ stole my idea!" He raised a fist and thumped it against his chest proudly. I rolled my eyes.

"We didn't invite you!" Ran cried, her teeth clenched, her hand on my left forearm. I suddenly was under the impression I was being fought over.

"It's not up to you! Penny-chan wants to go for personal beeswax!" Minoru replied shortly as he grabbed my other arm. My suspicions were confirmed.

"It's _business_ baka!"

"Says who!"

"Says _everyone_!"

"I'm not everyone!"

"Thank kami cuz the world would have been blown to pieces by now!" Each time they spoke they jerked me in their respective directions, as much as I liked them fighting over me, I had to put my foot down.

BAM! Literally.

"OWWW!" Minoru cried, I smirked. I wouldn't stomp on Ran's shoes, she would throw more of a fit over me damaging her shiny black school shoes than the pain in her toes. As for Minoru, he needed to learn how to take pain as a man.

"You have been initiated," I said before looking over at Ran to see if she was satisfied, over his agony her anger had evaporated and a look of content passed over her features.

"You have been forgiven too, Minoru-baka," Ran claimed, through the tears in his eyes he glowered up at us. I thought about going back home, but my parents would not be happy with what I had spent my allowance on.

"We'll go to your house, Minoru," I stated, he got over his pain and stared at me.

"Wha-huh? Why?"

"Because I said so," I replied, "if you do, you can come with us."

"Are you sure you'll be all right with that your majesty?" he mocked, his eyes switching from me to Ran then back to me.

"Of course," although Ran didn't fully like the idea, she followed Minoru to his small apartment – he was an only child like me, therefore space wasn't a big deal.

His parents were home and cheery, unlike mine. When we arrived, his father served us riceballs and other snacks. The three of us made up plans that eventually led to making up stories as to what might happen if we tried to stowaway. Taking our words in stride and in the mindset that we were just playing around, Minoru's parents said nothing but smiled and encouraged our imaginations.

I also opened and saw my first ever cards.

Unfortunately, my fun had to come to an end. Around five, Ran and I left, then after Ran and I separated did I arrive home. My cards were hidden in the depths of my backpack, well out of harm's way of my father's paper shredder.

Thankfully, I returned home before Father and Mama came back from work. Only Auntie Ai was there to snivel over my return.

"You've never been gone so long!"

"I was at a friend's house," I said, Auntie Ai appeared stunned, but her expression softened.

"That'll be a secret between you and me, kay?" she said, leaning down to my level then placing a hand on my shoulder. I nodded, I wondered why it had to be a secret? Was it possible my parents _were trying _to isolate me?

"Auntie Ai, can I ask you something?" I peered up at her with big eyes, acting innocent again. A look of concern crinkled her facial features, but the expression passed quickly and was then replaced by a curious one. Gazing down at me, I made a mental note of how much she looked like Mama – black hair and an obvious eastern lineage shining at every slim curve and slanted eyes.

It only motivated my plan more, I wasn't Japanese, I don't even think I'm from the East. With my fair skin I glowed in comparison among my Asian classmates, don't even get me started on my hair…because of the light, blonde hue I had been nicknamed as a fair child, _Goldilocks_, even 'albino.' I always kept it short, thinking if it got too long the tangles would get overwhelming and too agonizing to brush.

I was definitely adopted – I don't understand what's keeping Father and Mama from confessing? I guess it could be considered a difficult topic to bring up let alone admit to, but they must know I would begin to grow suspicious at some point – I won't always be a kid.

"Sure honey, what's up?" I swallowed, my eyes meeting hers. Deep, smooth black ebony against sunny, citrus orange.

"Nevermind," I decided I wouldn't find out through her why my parents were as silent as they were, maybe she just knew about it and didn't really know the whole story and I _wanted_ the whole story. Auntie Ai frowned.

"Are you sure?" she questioned, I nodded.

"Don't worry Auntie Ai, I'll find out on my own." The hidden meaning in the words wasn't perfectly clear, but the older woman must have sensed something was off and her frown deepened.

"Find out what?"

"A question on my homework, Sensei didn't sound like he knew what he was talking about today. But I'll be fine," I lied, my conscience scolded me, but I didn't care. It shouldn't be me that should have to bring up my origins, it should be the people that have been caring for me for as long as I could remember. Leaving Auntie Ai, I went up to me room, shut the door, then sat on my bed with my backpack in tow. Pulling out my new cards, I stared at them, as if hoping they would answer my questions.

I skimmed through them, I'm sure I had more than forty and was reading the information written on the cards. Then for some reason, one card got my attention, then another did, then another…I plucked those from my developing deck and placed them in a line in front of my crossed legs.

_Last Will…Judgment of the Desert…Celtic Guardian…Castle Walls…Dragon Capture Jar…Illusionist Faceless Mage…Monster Reborn…and Shining Angel…_

What was this feeling of _connection_ I had with these cards? I stared at them, wondering silently to myself. At last, I sighed in disappointment and frustration.

Did I mention how much I hated being uncertain?

Little more than a week later…

"The boat will be leaving _tomorrow night_!" Ran announced quietly to my and Minoru's bowed heads. It was lunch again, but since befriending them last week, we had grown closer. Ran and Minoru still butted heads, but it was more amusing than unhealthy. The two worked well together – it showed when they taught me the basics of duel monsters and dueling with them, but if they got annoyed or found something wrong they went at it.

Blinking, I grew serious.

"No backing out got it? You don't wanna go, speak up now and forever keep it a secret!" I hissed, as I expected, neither of them turned back. The adventure was too tempting.

The following night after dinner, I clambered everything I would need into my backpack, including expansive walkie-talkies I managed to 'borrow' from the next door neighbor's spoiled twins (like they would notice.) A blanket was shoved in along with a pillow, fortunately, Ran was in charge of snacks – I couldn't fit much more into the bag.

The plan was after school tomorrow we would head to the harbor, our excuse to our parents was that we would each be sleeping over at a friend's house. I had already seeked out permission and surprisingly gained an 'all right' from Father after Mama gave him a very heated pointed look. Minoru, I heard, didn't have to do much convincing, but Ran seemed to have the hardest time of us all. Apparently she lived under pressure at home, but I didn't press for details when she said she was in the clear for that night.

We could only imagine how much trouble we were going to be in once our parents figure out we weren't in any safe, warm home slumbering in a friend's room. There was no telling how long this tournament was going to be, but I was willing to take the risk. It was Ran and Minoru I was worried about, kind of. All well, their behinds.

"Ready?" I asked after the last class bell rang the next day, Minoru and Ran nodded.

Our first step: following the directions to the dock.

"It's telling us to go left!"

"You're reading it upside-down baka!" Ran growled, her dark brown hair pulled back in a messy bun. Minoru huffed.

"Am not! You are!" Shaking my head, I took the map and led the way. The directions Minoru had collected led us onto an hour-long train ride and a forty-five minute stroll to a dismal looking section of town. My instincts were alive with fear gritting at my nerves, but as the sky darkened, we quickened our paces.

More people showed up and we knew we were on the right track, there were several duelists with a velvet, maroon glove clasped around their dominant hands – the one Ran had mentioned a while back. It had a strange, thick, metal band around the wrist containing hollow, star-shaped holes (ten overall.) One, however, was filled with a five-point star chip.

I gulped, would we even get onto the boat at all?

Looking in between bodies of people and shoving our way through, the three of us saw the ocean and the waves splashing against the dock. A shadow of a ship in the distance bellowed a horn, catching everyone's undivided attention. When the ship came to the dock, I stared at it – a five-star vessel no doubt. Security guards and men in shades donning earpieces like they do in the movies left the boat and started talking in harsh tones to the duelists. I could hardly hear, my heart was pounding so hard.

_How were we going to get on?_ I eyed all the guards in fancy, black suits. Looking around, I decided a distraction would be best and with all these tall teenagers surrounding us, our short height could easily sneak us in.

"We're gonna have to move fast and pick the biggest people here," I explained my idea as casually as I could to my companions, Ran and Minoru nodded.

"Let me figure out the distraction," he said, Ran and I gave him a skeptical look.

"What did you have in mind?" Ran questioned coolly, Minoru smirked before going toward the back of the group of duelists now making their way toward the boat's entrance. We watched as he kicked the shin of a tall, bulky gangster-looking man. Swinging around, the man didn't even spot the tiny eight-year-old when it was a leering hulk of another man that stood behind him – appearing oblivious and angry.

"Whaddya want, punk?" the hulk asked, the gangster snarled.

"Ya hit me, idiot!" Minoru had rejoined Ran and I swiftly before the gangster slugged the hulk square in the jaw, this inspired more fights and with the guards' attentions and eyes peeled away from scrutinizing every oncoming duelist. Ran, Minoru, and I maneuvered between the crowd and made our way across the small bridge and onto the ship.

Duelist Kingdom here we come!

* * *

**To InTheShadowOfSignifigance: **_Thank you for your review, I will take your advice to heart and hope you continue reading! I do intend to bring a lot of depth into this story and don't worry, I meant for details of my characters to be revealed at some point!_

**To Shirachi-ko: **_Thank you!!! I'm curious about where this story will lead to as well, I'm really excited!_

**To Cube:** _You're review was unacceptable, without explanation or reason I deem you an idiot. Not to mention a coward. It's called fanfiction and because hardly much of Pegasus' past was revealed to readers, I can do whatever I want with it and Penny's birth WILL BE EXPLAINED, why must I reveal every speck of detail in the first chapter? Lastly, Penny is no mary-sue I am proud to say._

**A/N:**

_Thank you to those who were kind in their reviews and loaded with advice! I am looking forward to adding more depth to Penny and her story and seeing as it has been a long time since I've seen the original YGO, I will try my best to keep the story line as straight as possible! I've also learned readers may be concerned about how realistic Penny will be - I hope this chapter has cleared some of that up, as she is 8 and is somewhat afraid of leaving home for the first time without her 'parents' knowing. Now that she has made friends, I'm looking forward to adding more to her character and in no way, am I intending to make her a perfect little girl (how does she come across as one? She's mouthy!)_


	3. Duel Two: BaKuRa'S wArNiNg

**Duel Two: BaKuRa'S wArNiNg

* * *

**

Stowing away was simpler than I thought it would be. Since we had boarded the vessel to Duelist Kingdom, Minoru, Ran, and I had been sitting among other duelists in hopes of fitting in. When security made an appearance, we would discreetly adjust our apparel, or in Minoru's case, his lopsided, red and black Duel cap. Occasionally, the three of us would have to split up to seem less conspicuous.

Minoru and Ran fit right in, often getting in heated conversations over trading cards or who should've won what duel. Having changed out of our school uniforms before leaving for the harbor, I now wore blue denim pants, sneakers, and a baby blue tee beneath my lime green jacket. I left my hair down so it tickled my shoulders to appear a little older, so far, no problems.

Apparently no one was aware those who shouldn't be on the ship were, making me less nervous. Anxiety was a friend to no one and I was no exception. With a sigh of relief, I fell to my butt beside a slightly less than talkative group. Or at least two members were making up most of the chit-chat.

"Hey Tea, you have some girly cards!" a blonde boy several feet taller than I claimed loudly, reminding a lot of Minoru across the room. Beside him was a brunette with bright blue eyes that were currently narrowing dangerously on her blonde friend. I assumed this was Tea, granted she was the only girl in the group.

"Be careful, they may be beautiful, but they can kick your deck's butt without breaking a sweat!" was Tea's reply, I rolled my eyes toward Ran, who without shame like Tea, was talking over a handful of animal and fairy cards to a few other female duelists.

"I wouldn't talk if I were you Joey, a little while ago an in fact could beat you!" laughed another brunette, though this one was a he with a vertical, pointed hairstyle and a kind smile. The blonde, Joey, went on the defensive.

"I've _improved_ since then! Gimme some credit!" Not even denying the fact an infant could out-duel him, Joey rambled on to his friend as Tea resisted rolling her eyes.

"Don't forget _why_ we're here you two!" Tea said, the two boys nodded, suddenly looking grim. The three looked at the last member of their group who hadn't yet spoken since I took residence beside them. Between Joey and his friend's shoulders, I saw how the boy was around my height (was he the same age as his friends?) with spiky hair resembling lightning bolts…

Lightning bolts? Why does that seem so familiar? Oh, right! Mr. Mutou from the game shop Ran took me too!

I eyed the boy, he had the same violet eyes of the old, cheerful man and wore the high school uniform from Domino High. Frowning, I decided he was older than me, but obviously is vertically challenged. Stifling a giggle, a shiny, upside-down pyramid hung from the boy's neck on a simple rope. A bold, golden eye was designed into it and when I peered into it directly, it sent shivers up my spine.

"_Attention duelists! A recent count of persons has revealed to us a number of individuals overriding our current number of attending competitors! Please stand and prepare to give your full name and reveal your single star chip and glove! Thank you!"_ My heart leaped to my throat and from seeing the look on Ran and Minoru's faces as they shot a glance at me told me they were feeling the same way.

_Hold on…_ I looked over as I stood toward the group I had been eavesdropping on. Only one out of the four had a glove and star chip – they weren't qualified to be here either! _How did they get on?_

_Maybe perhaps they're over the age limit and managed to get on to support their friend,_ I thought with a mental snort. Scanning the area all the duelists (except a few honorees in their reserved suites) had been stuffed in since the beginning of the voyage, I spotted a few giant boxes behind the small group I was standing a little ways from. Motioning toward the crates, Minoru and Ran nodded in understanding.

Before the security guards made their way into the room, the three of us managed to hide and avoid their shades behind the crates.

Minutes ticked by and my heartbeat quickened with every step that sounded closer and closer to our hiding spot.

"Name?" a gruff voice from the harbor demanded.

"Joey Wheeler, hey, this was cleared up before we got on da boat!" the blonde from earlier exclaimed, a flicker of hope in my eyes returned – maybe the security guards would believe they made a mistake counting their heads that overrode the count and halt their search!

"Hm, I don't see your name." the same gruff voice snarled with amusement, Joey huffed.

"It's true – we're here to support our friend Yugi Mutou!" claimed Joey, behind me, I felt Ran shift her weight. My thoughts were the same – so he was related to the manager of the game shop!

"Hmm…fine then, but give us your names again anyway." The gruff voice said, still soaked in a twisted amusement. I gulped, what if they caught us? Alost instantly my imagination took hold - would they throw us into the ocean to fend for ourselves for stowing away? No matter how limited I was to the television, I felt everything I saw on it was fake – unrealistic. In this century, no one could be that cruel could they?

"Tea Gardener," the girl brunette answered stiffly. The sound a pen scribbling something on paper against a clipboard could be heard.

"Tristan Taylor," he must have been the other brunette.

"And you are an actual duelist invited by Pegasus himself," the security guard said, I guessed he must have been looking at Yugi.

"Right," Yugi had a high voice compared to Joey and Tristan.

"Fine, keep your lackeys under control and they'll be no problem." The security guard growled, Joey and Tristan instantly took offense.

"_Lackeys!?_" Another security guard came up to the gruff one, distracting them from the obnoxious pair.

"After adding up everyone in the room, the count's different sir," a man said in an almost fearful manner, was it because to whom he was speaking to? Fighting for a view, the three of us peered through a crack between the crates to see the gruff guy in shades and a skinnier guard in shades.

"Nonsense," the gruff guard snorted, his eyes scanning the room around him from behind his sunglasses.

"Then they must be hiding," I felt Minoru and Ran's bodies stiffen behind me.

Before anything could be said, the men in suits throughout the room began pushing through duelists and into coat racks and boxes and rooms. The men closest to Yugi's group took the initiative toward the crates. With a freaky smirk, the man came closer with his hands itching to grab anyone who dared stowaway under his watch.

"_Penny-" _squeaked Ran, but Minoru clamped a hand over her mouth. A bead of sweat ran down my cheek as we left the crates and got down on the floor.

"Or…" Joey's voice drifted over the crates and into our ears. "…Some'un miscounted." The man about to discover our whereabouts came to an abrupt halt before turning around, giving the blonde a harsh glare.

"Not likely," was all he said, a pair of boots stomping down the stairs indicated another guard joining the party. The guard practically ran up to the man glaring at Joey with a rather frazzled expression.

"Kemo sir, there's a problem up deck – Pegasus wishes to speak with you," I couldn't believe our luck! As the guards gave up their search for possible stowaways, they followed their reluctant leader back up the stairs. Two of them positioned at the bottom to keep an eye out for the uncounted for heads.

"Whew," Joey groaned, the three of us didn't dare venture out again for the following hours.

Eventually, at some point, the group was led away by the creepy bug inspector (or whatever) and was about to be followed by Minoru (who just _had to have_ his autograph.) Other duelists began to unravel sleeping bags or find the comfiest spot on the floor to fall into slumber.

Minoru and I were about to step outside the crates to join them when Ran grabbed the scruff of our jackets then pull us back out of sight. She held her index finger to her lips then pointed at something beyond the crates when we turned on her.

Licking my lips nervously, I saw what Ran was so edgy about. The guards left below duck with us were being replaced with a fresh pair of men. They held emotionless masks even the Boogeyman wouldn't attempt to scare. With a silent sigh, I imagined we were going to be stuck behind the crates (where space was already very limited) and against the wall for the rest of our voyage.

It wasn't until a little past midnight that I woke up to find I had the unpleasant feeling I had begun to dread since my realization. Where were the restrooms on this dang boat to begin with?

Cautiously, I peered in between the crates and at the guards. They hadn't inched since they had been stationed there many hours ago. I wondered how they could do it until the blasted sensation rippled through my lower region, reminding me I had to _go_ – _now._

Reason told me there was no way the guards could remember every person's face on the ship and therefore, would not possibly believe I was some stowaway. Yet even if I hid my face in the shadows, there was no doubt my lack of a gauntlet would give me away and thus, I knew I couldn't be seen by the guards.

Imitating that pathetic dance most kids do when they're being potty-trained, I scanned the room outside the crates for any sign of a restroom. A thought dawned on me with horror, numbing my bladder for several seconds. Perhaps the restrooms were outside the room we were being held in?

_But of course,_ a voice inside my head chided with light amusement, snarling, I crouched down onto my belly. Advancing at the pace of a snail, I crawled out of the crates and along the mounds of human bodies curled up in their sleeping bags. Stopping many times whenever I believed a guard twitched or moved his gaze towards my direction, it took me almost thirty minutes to evade detection before finding a spot to stand at long last.

But not before being caught.

He wasn't a guard – there was no way a beanpole like him could be one. Especially not with a hair of dazzling white down past his elbows and enormous, amicable brown orbs. Plus he had no shades – what a relief – sort of.

"Uh…h-hello," I greeted, still a little wary of making friends, of course I wasn't too stupid to accept candy from a stranger – if he would attempt that is.

At first, he didn't say anything, but he did stare at me, probably wondering _'a kid?'_ Then he smiled, a pink hue stained my cheeks and a warm feeling fluttered in my belly.

_He doesn't look old, but he has white hair…and he's cute…_ I absently wondered how old he was, then images from Father's graphic novel I nicked from his study a week or so ago raced into my head. The plot centered around a _loli-lolito? Or was it lolita?_

Whatever, it was disgusting.

"Hello, would you by chance, have anything to do with the chaos from earlier?" he asked warmly, obviously referring to the guards looking for us a-long-way-from-home stowaways. I thought roughly about telling him the truth – what harm could it be in doing so? But if there was one thing Mama and Father were adamant about that I knew came from the truth was about the reliability you can put into people you just met.

This guy could be wanted for stealing or kidnapping, I wasn't about ready to reveal my life story to him!

"Nah, my friends and I are here for the tournament. I'm just short for my age," I replied, thinking of the boy with the upside-down pyramid around his neck with a gauntlet on his right hand. Thinking of the golden trinket…this boy had one too, or at least something similar.

My eyes narrowed on the ring with half a dozen glittering 3D rhombuses hanging from it. A golden eye stared out from it as one did on the upside-down pyramid, there had to be a connection between the two.

"Ah, I see." Was his reply, apparently he wasn't convinced but played along anyhow. That irked me, I didn't like having my way, but he didn't look like a tattle-tale, so a small sort of relief snaked around my heart.

"Is that some sort of new fashion trend?" I questioned, pointing at his golden ring hanging from his neck. He peered down at it as well, his smile wavered.

"Not really, it's a rare item called the Millennium Ring." Answered the stranger, I raised a brow.

"Another boy has something like it, it has the same kind of eye." I pointed out, the white-haired boy nodded.

"You must be talking about Mutou Yugi, he's a friend of mine – he has the Millennium Puzzle." He explained, the uncomfortable sensation below my tummy worsened. I frowned painfully.

"Um…this is a little embarrassing, buuut do you know where the restrooms are?" I asked, of course, it's not a good idea to ask a stranger where you're destination is in fear they will know where you are. Then again, he might be awake past midnight too for the same reason. If all else fails, be optimistic!

He blinked.

"Yes, right down there on the left." He said, jabbing a finger ahead of us.

"Um…nice speaking with…er…you, bye." Awkwardly, I ran around him then quickly jogged down the hall along the side of the ship. The ocean waves could be heard swishing against the ship's metal walls.

Finding the women's restroom, I hurried in. Less than five minutes later, I exited to find the white-haired boy right outside, leaning over the railing. Looking out toward the horizon where the water met the sky. Cautiously I approached him, wondering if he wanted to resume our conversation. When I was close enough for a decent chat, he didn't say anything, but kept staring out at sea. My eyes began to wonder to and I found myself gazing heavenward.

It was a cloudy night, the stars could hardly be seen. Even the moon was playing hide-and-seek behind giant puffs of gray and navy blue. The shadows weren't dancing tonight.

"They're from Egypt," he suddenly spoke, snapped out of my stupor I glanced at him.

"W-What?"

"They're from Egypt, the Millennium items." He said plainly, his voice was still the same, but his eyes were narrowing. "There's no ocean there,"

"Of course not, it's all sand." _Even I know that_, I watched him for a moment, undecided in whether I should head back to Ran and Minoru or not.

"Have you ever seen the sea before?" I asked, the boy still refused to make eye contact and continued to look at the rolling waves. Was it a look of longing?

"Oh, I used to live in Britain, I've seen it plenty before." He said, I frowned.

_Weirdo._ For some reason, that was all I could think of. Not to mention he's speaking funny and I'm not talking about his British accent either.

"You're not fourteen, or any older than that." He spoke again after a few minutes of silence. Worry manipulated itself into my chest, swelling like a balloon as the boy suddenly looked at me. Same voice, same eyes – if not a little narrow, as if he were looking me over. "Why are you on this boat?"

"I already said-"

"I know what you said," he said, but not with the same warm tone from earlier. I gulped, goosebumps were beginning to appear beneath my sleeves.

"My father received the Millennium Ring from a vendor in Egypt. Telling him it would bring good fortune to whomever wears it," the boy explained, his eyes turning back out toward the black sea. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, trying to purchase a more comfortable position.

At the mention of "father" the silver-haired man whisked in front of my eyes. I didn't know the boy noticed the slight widening of my eyes and analyzed it in his own pair.

"You're not going to Duelist Kingdom to duel either," he concluded, shocked, I just stared at him. Yet it quickly turned into a glare.

"It's none of your business," I growled, I didn't care how childish I sounded, this guy was just weird! Looking around, I saw no one – not even guards.

"How old are you really?" at that, I stuck my tongue out at him.

"You shouldn't ask girls that, it's rude." Trying to sound light and playful was not my intention, but it came out that way even though my uncertainty grew – making me all the more uncomfortable. It felt as if I was watching some suspenseful horror movie, but I was the main character and he was the manipulative villain. But he didn't _look_ the part except for the eyes that grew darker with each passing second.

"I apologize," and just like that, the darkness vanished and he was the kind soul I first met.

"I…" the sudden disappearance of the dark presence lightened the atmosphere and I felt better around him again. After heightening my suspicion so much, when it all vanished I felt I could trust him. "I am the stowaway they were all making a big deal about."

_A new friend…_

"I want to talk to…Pegasus about…something," I confessed, but I felt it was okay to do it. The white-haired teen smiled, but he did cock his head slightly as he stared at me funny.

As quickly as it had disappeared, the darkness returned in full blast if not stronger than before. I instantly realized my mistake, somehow what I had said provoked it. His hair began to rise and his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"What is your name?" he asked, his voice no longer warm or welcoming. It was cross and gruffer, I felt cornered. He straightened his spine, his overall appearance made me think of a skinny, white, evil bat. Not only had his hair risen as if a balloon had been rubbed against his scalp, but the edges of his sweater seemed to bristle with static.

"P-Penny…" I reluctantly replied, not giving my full name. I dared to ask the same for him. He smirked.

"Call me Bakura,"

Feeling the urge to sprint as fast as I could, I began backing away – I'll risk taking the long way back to my room. Bakura seemed to have other plans.

"The guards are close by," he said coolly, but a smirk still graced his lips. "You shouldn't stay here much longer," He turned and left, when the moonlight escape through a hole in the clouds above, he vanished into the shadows.

Fighting the urge to break down, I couldn't help but think there was some hidden meaning to the words he had just spoken – like a warning…did it have something to do with Pegasus? The darkness came when I mentioned him and it didn't seem nice.

After a few minutes, I heard footsteps. Taking Bakura's words to heart, I hurried back to the room.

The coming morning, the duelists were packed back up and out on the deck to catch the first glimpse of Duelist Kingdom. Ran, Minoru, and I stayed behind the crate until the guards went up with the last of the duelists.

A cheer broke out as we crawled out from our hiding place.

Duelist Kingdom was on the horizon it seemed.


	4. Duel Three: ToRn ApArT

**Duel Three: ToRn ApArT**

The ship was so devoid of life I could hear the swishing of the churning waves several meters down from the deck, calmly hitting the sides of the sea-ridden metal. Minutes ago, Minoru made his way out the of the main room to find no guards had remained on the ship. Assuming the only other human beings aboard were the captain and his crew (although we haven't seen them throughout the voyage, but someone had to work this ship), Ran and I joined Minoru on the deck.

Unknown to us, the duelists and the security guards had left the boat and were now on the island sighted before us. Against the railing, we stared open-mouthed.

I suddenly felt like a character in a castaway novel, but we weren't really castaways. The island (from our perspective) held a variety of terrain and foliage such as lush forests and wasteland beach areas. Minoru and Ran, being the two most into Duel Monsters out of the three of us, started blabbering on about monster elements and field advantages. Of course, they have been teaching me the basics, but that still didn't mean I cared enough to remember it all.

So while they continued being fascinated by the bizarre scenery, my eyes scoured the island for duelists and more importantly, the guards who could force us to return home – or worse, throw is in the ocean to fend for ourselves (though, now that I think about it, that would be pointless being so close to an island.)

"Look! It's a castle!" Ran pointed out as she jabbed a finger toward a medieval-looking architecture, personally, I thought it looked like something out of a fairy tale book or a cartoon.

Upon getting a closer look, we saw through gaps in the trees there was a vast clearing, several people (who I suspected were the duelists originally on the ship) and men in black suits were standing in it, facing the castle.

Gazing at the castle, I saw there was a man, of whom I couldn't really make out, with two bodyguards behind him. I gulped when the sunlight hit his hair, it glinted silver.

_He HAS to be Maximillion Pegasus!_

"Let's head down there!" I cried, Minoru and Ran jumped, but when I mentioned Pegasus, Ran nodded in understanding – Minoru, on the other hand, became extremely excited.

"I'm getting _his_ autograph – I _have to_ since I couldn't get Weevil's…" Minoru's rambling trailed off as he figured out neither of his girl companions were listening. We tore our eyes from the island and began searching for a way off the ship. Several minutes later, we did.

Keeping an eye out for men with shades, we dropped down a level and came across the ramp still lowered down to the island. With our hearts thumping madly in our chests, I led the three of us down it. Paranoia making us sweat and every noise made, our heads would spin in the direction we thought it came from. Clutching the straps of my backpack and biting my bottom lip, as soon as my sneakers hit the grass I tore across the ground until I was safe behind some bushes.

Panting, Minoru and Ran were right behind me.

"That was weird, there wasn't anyone on the ship at all-" Ran stopped short, her eyes wide on something behind me. Minoru froze as well, his mouth hanging open.

"Brats, I knew we didn't _miscount_," it was the security guard – Kemo was it? – who was standing behind me, if there were more men I wasn't sure, all I knew was that my heart was pumping in my ears and my throat was swelled shut. Sweat beaded around my temples as I gazed anxiously at Minoru and Ran.

"_Run!"_ I choked out and the three of us bolted, the man's hands swinging through air where I had been seconds before. Tearing through the undergrowth, we were virtually separated, but wisps of one another's clothing reminded us where each other was.

Terrified out of my mind as I felt the vibrations of the boots of the approaching security guard on the ground, I picked up the pace. I felt no pain, just tons of energy pumping through my veins. My backpack, which had been weighing me down until now, was rather weightless. I was oblivious to how my breath had vanished and my lungs were clenching at whatever oxygen they could grasp.

Without knowing it, my eyes began to blur and I thought I saw a bunch of people, but right when I was about to clear another bush, I slipped and I felt a thump to my head dull my senses.

Heaving, air rushed down my windpipe and just as quickly as I had fallen, someone strong grasped the back of my jacket and pulled me up in a choking hold.

"Hey! Quit it! You're _strangling her_!" someone cried, automatically my hands started clawing at my collar and trying to breathe. My eyes fluttered open and I spotted the same girl I had seen on the ship with her three male friends. Remaining silent, Kemo dropped me into the girl's arms and the brunette fell into Tristan and Joey.

"Penny-chan!" Putting me down on my feet, Tea smoothed out my hair and asked if I were all right.

"So you're Penny-chan?" Tea asked, I became aware Ran was standing next to me, worry evident in her face. Minoru was no where to be seen, but I heard Yugi and Joey arguing in the distance. I nodded mutely, the wind having been literally knocked out of me.

"Put me down!" Minoru cried, apparently another guard is doing what Kemo had done to me and Yugi and Joey were demanding Minoru be let down. At least Minoru was being suffocated, otherwise he wouldn't be talking.

"Put 'em down dimwit! Yer gonna kill 'im!" snarled Joey.

"Please put him down, he didn't do any harm that I know of…" Yugi's softer voice trailed off as Joey grew more agitated and eventually led to cursing until the guard's ears rang.

"Joey!" Tea scolded, but fortunately by this time the guard released Minoru and Joey quit swearing.

"Was that so hard?" the blonde asked, the guard glared at him.

"These three are returning to the ship, no exceptions." Kemo growled, I shook my head.

"Why can't we stay?" finding my voice again, I challenged Kemo. Back talking was a no-no at home and to my elders in general, but to this guy, I figured there were _my exceptions._

"I thinks it's obvious, not only did you stowaway, you're underage and without a gauntlet. You are NOT permitted here and will receive proper punishment once you return home, along with a call to your parents." Explained Kemo with a wicked smirk marring his features.

"A call home is punishment enough…" Minoru managed as he rubbed his neck.

"Please, sir, we just wanted to _watch_." Ran tried, her voice uncertain.

"Yeah, and besides, Penny wants to speak with Pegasus bout something, doncha?" Minoru gazed over at me, I gave him a hard look and he immediately clamped his mouth shut. Kemo's smirk widened.

"What could a five-year-old-"

"_Eight_-year-old," Minoru, Ran, and I corrected in unison, Kemo chose to ignore us.

"-possibly have to say to Pegasus-sama?" Kemo questioned, his eyes watching us from behind his dark shades.

"I don't see why they have to tell you," Tea cut in, "it's their business – not yours,"

"Oh, what are they to you?" Kemo challenged, Tea frowned.

"They're our younger siblings," Tea lied rather genuinely, Tristan, Joey, Yugi, Minoru, and Ran gave her astonished looks, I resisted a smile. "We hid them because we knew you wouldn't allow them. And besides, they wanted to come and see Yugi win."

"Interesting, so you're all accomplices," Kemo said, his voice smothered in arrogance. He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Well, in this case, you ALL should be sent home for breaking so many rules within the first hour of the tournament."

I didn't think he believed the whole sibling story, but was using it to his advantage to take the duelists off the island.

"Don't bother Kemo sir," the other guard, who had been holding Minoru, said. A walkie-talkie in one hand, "Word from the top said let them come, he wants the duelist Yugi Mutou to get to his duels."

I barely registered what he said, had he been speaking with _the _Pegasus or a guard close by to him?

"Fine," snapped a reluctant Kemo, his face slightly distorted in frustration.

_I guess I'll have to find my own way to Pegasus,_ I thought as I turned my gaze up toward the castle.

"I wouldn't have sent you home anyway, let the brats see the great Yugi Mutou fall!" Kemo snarled loudly before turning away, he and his comrade left the group alone. Along with Minoru and Ran, I sighed in relief.

"Thanks for the help," Ran said gratefully, her eyes gazing up at Tea with admiration.

"It's no problem, but why are you kids here anyway?" Tea asked, I huffed.

"Kids? You don't even look like you're out of high school yet," I observed, Tea frowned.

"Sorry, you're right. But still, why are you here? If not to duel, than what?"

"To watch," Minoru answered honestly, at least for him. Ran was determined to help my case, but I eyed the group. They seemed like a normal group of teenagers to me, what was so great about the height-challenged one though? Apparently he was something special because Minoru instantly went into fan mode.

"Can I have your autograph?" asked Minoru as he suddenly appeared before Yugi, Ran and I rolled our eyes. Yugi seemed slightly flustered and unsure of how to react.

"Uh-sure…?" Yugi said as he took Minoru's offered notepad and pen.

"Yugi Mutou? Why do you want his autograph?" I asked honestly, Minoru, and Yugi's gang looked at me with eyes as wide as table saucers.

"How do you _not_ know about Yuug?" Joey asked, dumbfounded. Ran glowered at him in my defense.

"Hey, she doesn't know a whole lot about Duel Monsters," she growled, Joey glowered back.

"So?"

"He defeated the Duel Monsters Champion, Seto Kaiba." Tea informed me patiently, if not with a hint of disbelief.

"Seto Kaiba?" I repeated, _another name I should probably know no doubt._ True to what I thought, I got another strange look, but not from Ran or Yugi. After signing the notepad and handing it back to Minoru, Yugi looked at me – we were practically the same height! Wow!

"So…you're here to speak with Pegasus?" he asked, a dark flicker in his large, violet orbs appeared. The look was so stark in contrast with Yugi's innocent figure I didn't know what to make of it. It reminded me of how Bakura had his little transformation – then I recalled (and noticed again) the upside-down pyramid hanging around Yugi's neck.

_What does it all mean?_ Of course, if I was LIKE the majority of my age group, I would have watched a few or so shows covering the supernatural and unsolved phenomenon. I probably would have guessed Yugi and Bakura might have been suffering from a sort of bipolar disorder (scientifically speaking) if I read the right books from the library (remember my dad's office is off-limits – not that it never stopped me before.) Yet I would never have guessed the Millennium items (or so what Bakura had stated) were linked to unknown Egyptian history and their trapped souls were set at their alter egos.

So therefore, I am _completely_ and _blissfully_ ignorant.

For now at least I suppose.

"Yeah," was my reply.

"About-" Joey was cut off by Tea.

"Hey, it's not like we're spilling our guts, if anything, we should relay our trust first." She snapped, the boys instinctively backed away from the brunette before Tea returned her gaze to us.

"Ignore him, he's our group idiot." She said casually, Joey fumed.

"Hey! You're always the one being all wishy-washy-"

"I don't believe we've been properly introduced, let me start, I'm Tea Gardener." Claimed the brunette with a cheerful smile, Ran positively beamed up at her – forget Yugi, Tea was her role model as Minoru looked up to every famous duelist.

"Yugi Mutou – even though you already know me." Said the smaller of the four, Joey made a face at us.

"Name's Tristan Taylor, loudmouth here is Joey Wheeler. Don't worry, he loves kids." The other brunette piped up, the blonde turned on him.

"What? Says who!"

"Well, the way you are with your sister-"

"Shuddup!"

"I'm Penny Kimura," I said, my social skills improving – or at least that was how I felt, I don't feel as awkward as I did around Ran the first time we officially spoke. Then again, these high schoolers might just be around my maturity level, well, at least Tea, Yugi, and Tristan anyway…

"No one gives a da-" as if one cue, Joey shouted before Tristan put him in a headlock.

"Kids, man! _Kids_!" Tristan bellowed in his ears.

"Ran Kamelate,"

"Minoru Ito, we're more than happy to tag along with you guys!" Ran and I peered over at Minoru, he was on the verge of launching to the moon from the way he was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. We exchanged sighs of exasperation.

"Sure, tag along all you want." Yugi said happily, but for some reason his three companions (Joey had been released from Tristan) exchanged unsure looks. As if they weren't certain if the three of us kids would be safe with them or not.

"Um, Yuug?" Joey started, but Yugi only nodded.

"It'll be fine as long as we avoid the shadows." Yugi said, I was suddenly under the impression they were speaking in secret codes now since I was completely lost. Were they trying to say we were afraid of the dark or something?

I crossed my arms, the more questions popping into my head from my bizarre experiences so far were bloating up my original purpose of being here in the first place. I just wanted one answer, but I found that sinister doors were starting to open and I was beginning to think to get to the one answer I want I would have to solve several others first.

Did these Millennium items, by chance, have any relevance to the situation at hand?

"Um, hey, Yugi was it?" I said a few moments later, the group (led by Joey and his _nose_) had begun walking in the direction of the lush forest we had seen from the ship. The shorter member of his gang glanced back at me and slowed down to speak with me.

"Yes?"

_Wow, awkward, _to be honest, I was expecting to be pushed aside after the introductions were put out. Yet it seemed this Yugi guy was as nice as his first impression made him out to be. My horribly lacking social skills were returning and I was beginning to feel flustered. Perhaps, even though I don't understand the whole extant of the dueling world, knowing he was someone important ruined what skills I had been developing and threw them out the window.

I was suddenly tongue-tied and very embarrassed since practically everyone was within earshot.

"N-Nevermind…" I trailed off, my heart beating so quickly I couldn't look the Mutou boy in the eyes. Ran and Tea glanced at me slightly, Ran was frowning and Tea seemed to be trying to analyze something. Being the boys they are, Tristan, Joey, and Minoru were talking animatedly about (what else) duel monsters and totally oblivious to my attempt at conversation.

"Oh, okay, whatever it is, don't be shy to ask okay?" He seemed to be speaking from experience, since from what I can see (in comparison to Tea) he wasn't nearly as bold and loud-mouthed as his friends. He picked up his pace again to walk beside Tea, his hands clutching his school backpack's straps.

I looked down, trying to relax again. That confrontation was a little too much, unlike with Ran, Yugi was swift and ready to speak whereas Ran was unsure of how to speak with me as a fellow classmate and not as the school's antisocial loner.

Then again, the feeling that someone was so intently trying to talk with me did lighten my spirits and quickly enough, courage began to well up inside me and encouraged me to try once more to talk with Yugi.

My hesitance from before bit me in the butt.

"Hey, Yugi." It was a snide voice, one that sounded _somewhat_ familiar. Minoru quickly acted on my unspoken confusion.

"_Weevil Underwood!_" His breath seemed short-circuited from excitement (I believe at some point within the hour if we keep confronting well-known idols we'll be forced off the island by a hospital helicopter,) but tension instantly fogged up the atmosphere and – by some God-given miracle – Minoru sensed it and refrained from launching into fan mode.

"What do ya want you Bug freak?" Joey growled, I looked up at Tea and Tristan and found them glaring angrily at the bug inspector as he approached. Of course, I HAD to glare to – what kind of fashion taste was _that_? Seriously, even in his elementary days that kind of haircut could not have been popular!

The duelist was only a few inches taller than Yugi, but the tension was so thick a spider could spin a web out of it – no pun intended, no, wait, spiders aren't insects…wait…would they be considered bugs?

God, if I weren't so brilliant I would wish I were a normal kid with a normal mediocre IQ level who wouldn't think with so much _abnormal _intellect.

"A duel," he said simply, jabbing a finger at Yugi with eyes only for him, the rest of us could be bushes for all he cared. Apparently something happened between them, this couldn't just be some battle sparks or friendly (if not a little aggressive) sportsmanship combating between the group and Weevil.

This was something I did not want to be a part of. I tugged at Ran and Minoru's sleeves impatiently as the chit-chat between the duelists mounted and grew perilously close to the level of a lightning storm. They even began to follow Weevil into the dense undergrowth where I cared not to be. Minoru glared at me and Ran even seemed somewhat disappointed.

"What is it?" Minoru snarled, obviously worked up over this upcoming duel between two of his favorite duelists and the fact I was fastening him from running after them.

"We need to stick to the reason we came here for," I replied, but Minoru didn't want anything of it.

"I didn't really come here for _you_ and you KNOW that," he growled without concern as his words struck straight and true, I was taken aback. Ran's eyes softened, but I could tell she wanted to watch as much as Minoru did.

"Y-Yeah, I do…" _Houston, social skills are plummeting!_

My hands fell from their sleeves and Minoru took off after the departing group, I stared up at Ran to find that her eyes were shifting from me to Minoru's rapidly departing back.

"Look, I want nothing to do with this tournament," I began, Ran suddenly seemed painfully hopeful, "go ahead and watch,"

Ran frowned.

"You HAVE to come with us then! You can't go around this island by yourself, what if you get caught and everyone will be in trouble – what about Yugi-"

"What about him? And none of those decisions were made with me! _Don't tell me what to do!_ For once in my life I escaped being TOLD what to do and someone like YOU is NOT going to take that away from me! I came here to speak to Pegasus! Not watch a bunch of stupid kids play fancy card games with ugly monsters!" I snapped, frustrated beyond reason that my young mind was unaware of. Flustered and more uncertain than ever, all I felt was anger boiling and sweltering beneath the surface, Ran looked shocked and hurt at the same time.

"I-I thought you liked duel monsters?" she said almost as if she were questioning me, I peered over her shoulder and saw Minoru was nearly out of sight.

"If you want to watch so bad then hurry up and g-go or you won't see them anymore!" Panicked and choked up, I made the decision for her and began walking away. "G-Go ahead! I-I don't need any of you stupid brats with me anyway!"

Worked up and mad, I stomped away in the direction of the castle, leaving Ran to cower at a crossroad. When I came to the realization of what I had done and said, I was already half a mile into the forest away from where I parted with Ran and Minoru. My heart was still pounding, but it felt like it was tearing in two.

And for the first time, I realized as I plopped down rather ungracefully at the base of a tree with my face buried in sleeves, I wished I were back at home.

Even if I were to be grounded and isolated to my room for the rest of my miserable life.

* * *

**A/N:**

_Do you ever recall those immature, childish moments when you were little and just shake your head at it and then think 'what the crap, I acted like that?' My parents recently reminded me of how I used to BAWL over growing pains when I was...seven? Six? Along with that and actual children behavior references, this chapter was born. Since I'm not writing a cheezy romance fanfic or angsty drama story, I really wanted to make this story realistic since I have an real-like seven-year-old sister (plus a six-year-old brother, my other sister is sixteen but she doesn't have much of a role in this tale, sorry) I can reflect back on. To be honest, Penny isn't based on my little sister nor is Minoru based on my little brother, but children are fiends by nature and unlike what movies and cutesy shows reveal to y'all, they're not NICE!_

_WARNING RANT: start_

_Yeah sure, you might come across the sweetest little girl in blonde pigtails EVA and the occasional lil boy who will walk an old grandma across the street (wtf it's the 21st century, who does that anymore?), but from a parent's POV she may be the worst kid to bathe or feed. Not to mention diapers are LITERALLY dirty business, here's my advice - DON'T HAVE SEX AND HAVE KIDS DAMNIT!!! Especially if you're in high school and/or in college! GO TO AND FINISH COLLEGE! Kids are for the **responsible**, not for **idiots** who just go out and **breed some more idiots**! Please! Spare the intelligent people! One of my little-to-no-brains friends from high school (last year) wanted desperately wanted to lose his virginity (idiot right?) and hooked up with a girl who just as desperately wanted to get pregnant (she had originally had 2 miscarriages - are the alarm bells going off here folks?) and guess what? A few weeks ago, I had been informed she was FOUR MONTHS PREGNANT and a senior in high school while her current bf isn't in college like he said he would be! I beg of you! I don't care what your beliefs are! Have sex for the first time and you break up with that guy (or girl to whoever I'm speaking to) you had your first-time intimacy with and you will shatter! If you're in a mature relationship, having sex shouldn't even be a daily conversation topic!_

_If you're a lemon reader or writer! Please understand PROTECTION IS FREAKING IMPORTANT! Listen to Van Wilder and slip on a Trojan for crying out loud! I'm sick and tired of hearing about my friends and people I used to respect get pregnant and putting their lives on hold! Not to mention making the poor child live out a miserable life (not all families are supporting)! _

_My mom runs a DAYCARE in our house! I'm only without kids when I'm on campus (I commute) and let me tell you from an 18-year-old's POV - _

_THEY'RE A PAIN IN THE ASS!_

_"I'M A VIRGIN, YOU AIN'T GETTING ANY!" _

_Pass it on (from an actual T-shirt)_

_RANT: end_


	5. Duel Four: In DiStReSs

**Duel Four: In DiStReSs**

I had fallen asleep or so I thought.

And let me tell you, lying on a gnarled, submerged tree root was not a very good idea. When I eventually did awaken, the sky had grown eerily dark and stars blinked happily into being. The moon was at it's quarter phase, illuminating the island in its ghastly light.

Reacting to how cold it suddenly seemed, I clutched at my sleeves and rubbed my hands along my arms in attempt to warm them up. It was still summer and I was rather surprised by how chilly it was, but I didn't dwell long over the thought. Fully awake and (from what my stomach was telling me) famished, I unzipped my backpack and fished out a turkey sandwich and a small lantern.

After turning on the battery-operated lantern then placing it next to me, I leaned against the trunk of the tree I had been occupying since earlier with my backpack between my legs and sandwich in my hands.

At first, the surrounding nature didn't disturb me since my thoughts were so absorbed with the earlier events that took place between Ran, Minoru, and I. Chewing at my food, I wondered what they were doing now – were they sitting around a fire (no doubt Tea, Tristan, or Yugi would have conjured) or having the time of their lives being around the famous Yugi Mutou? I didn't even consider they were missing me, Ran perhaps a little, but in the presence of _greatness_ my well-being has probably been overlooked.

Finishing off my sandwich my stomach felt better and I sighed. Becoming bored with the stars I turned my attention to my lantern, before I hadn't noticed, but now I could see quite clearly the _Hello Kitty_ logo on the base of it. Frowning, I picked the lantern up and analyzed the small picture of the white cat head.

_I wonder who bought me this?_ Father and Mama were very careful about what they bought me and were notorious for warning relatives (alias Auntie Ai) to go along with their standards. Normally I was given something with a purpose, nothing solely meant for pure entertainment. In fact, I only knew the picture belonged to the _Hello Kitty_ franchise because a few of my other girl classmates had it too on their school supplies (not to mention it has the copyright name along the edge.)

Puckering my lips in thought, I ran my right thumb over the logo, trying hard to recall where the lantern had come from.

_Oh, right…_ I had gotten it from Auntie Ai a year ago on my seventh birthday, she had claimed there were no other lanterns that suited me and my parents thought they had hidden it from me well enough. But after catching a glimpse of it I was intrigued by the cute icon, I had pulled the lantern (still fully packaged) out from the garbage when Mama and Father weren't watching and stuck it in my messy wardrobe in my room.

I had just now come to find use of it and now, the anger from before at my newfound friends' betrayal came back full blast.

_What had Father and Mama been trying so desperately to keep me away from?_ They weren't honestly expecting me to outgrow childhood, live out being a teenager, and become an adult without trying to discover some sort of answer to their ridiculous parenting manner were they? I gripped the lantern tightly without trying to break it. My shoulders almost began to shake, my brain fuming as it tried to get around what my "parents" were thinking all this time! Granted if I hadn't been so sensitive (as most children are) I wouldn't have noticed I was different than my classmates through my upbringing.

Yet when Duel Monsters started becoming popular, kids were beginning to notice there was most _definitely _something _wrong_ with me.

"_**What kind of kid doesn't even know about bubble gum or Duel Monsters?"**_ I shook my head, not wanting to go through flashbacks of humiliation. I remember going red and my eyes blurring, but I never cried, at least, not in front of people.

Father reprimanded and lectured me on not "displaying weakness to others" by crying, but that didn't stop me from doing so at night in my bed.

I blinked and without knowing it I had been crying, a tear plummeted down onto the lantern. I swiftly rubbed my face with my sleeve, eagerly wiping away all traces of sadness, but my fair skin remained blotchy and red (even though I couldn't see it I knew.)

Switching the lantern off, I felt I had turned my memory off. I glanced back up at the stars, trying to ease the sudden headache throbbing gently behind my eyebrows. In attempt to calm down, I started to inhale and exhale deeply, but the anger didn't ebb away completely. I doubted it ever would.

Then what I hadn't noticed before, I certainly began noticing now.

The forest around me cooed with night noises, ranging from distant owl hoots to crunches in the undergrowth, my imagination started getting a hold of me. Thoughts of Kemo and his fellow guards possibly having following me came to mind, that they were on their way to dragging me off the island. As if that wasn't scary enough, I even imagined they were dressed in horror costumes to make my time even worse!

Fiddling with my lantern, I wasn't sure if I should turn it back on or not. What if (even if it weren't Kemo) it was some duelist that wasn't as nice as Yugi and his gang and they found me through the light of the lantern! I bit my bottom lip, the blood in my head heading south. I gathered my backpack on my shoulders and prepared to bolt – just in case.

For the next hour or two, I sat in terrified vigilance. Waiting for something unfriendly and morbid to come lunging out of the bushes at me.

Then, I heard something. Not a cricket or an early bird, something _heavier_. I recalled all the duelists that were on the boat and from what I saw, I imagined the ugliest and scariest as the one rummaging through the forest somewhere around me. I cradled my pink lantern and my orange eyes scanned the bushes for any sign of a person, planning on running for the life of me if I did.

The minutes ticked by and I picked out the noises were being made by shoes, not sure about what kind of shoes, but shoes. Which meant a person, which meant it _could very well be _one of the ugliest and scariest of the duelists from the boat!

Close to relieving myself, my eyes settled on a dark figure under some trees, gradually coming closer. The moonlight glanced off the person's wrist, glinting off a silver gauntlet.

So the person was a duelist and not Kemo or one of his guards – unless some guards are participating – _ack! They're coming closer!_ In my panic I squeaked and the figure stopped, the person had a lot of hair from what I could see, so naturally, I assumed this person was a girl. Yet she was taller than Tea (at least from my perspective) so I promoted the figure to being a woman.

This logic calmed me down slightly, but when the figure seemed to have noticed something in my direction (guess what) it started walking again and even spoke.

"Hey, who's there?" It was a feminine voice, not a strictly kind one, but she didn't seem cross.

"Um…I'm not a duelist or…a guard…or anything…" I trailed off lamely, the lady stepped out of the forest and into my small clearing, the moonlight giving her and I a better idea of what we looked like to one another. Her purple eyes stared at me in shock.

"Wait…what's a kid doing here?" I blinked, the terror fleeing my consciousness and my grip on my lantern loosened. She was pretty tall, especially in her high-heeled boots with a very (how did Mama put it?) _scandalous_ fashion sense with her short skirt and low-cut shirt (was it some corset?) beneath her jacket. Her hair was blonde like mine, but fell past her elbows in elegant waves with a touch of sharpness. In my opinion, she was really pretty since, unlike Tea, she wore make-up and expressed a special type of beauty.

I stared up at her, a sense of a challenge burning inside me.

"What's it to you?" I asked, startled about my tone, I wasn't intending to be so…frank. The female duelist blinked, again in shock.

"Geez, calm down, this tournament had requirements and the age limit is fourteen. You certainly don't look fourteen, so naturally, I was curious." She replied with a Madonna-like attitude. She had a tough hue to her voice and I found what could've been what Ran was feeling when she gazed up at Tea.

"I'm Penny," I said, happy to give her my name. The woman gave a smile.

"Mai Valentine," was her reply, I eyed her attire a little more.

"Aren't you cold?" I asked, the woman bent down to my level.

"I've been walking around until now, so no, not really. But anyway, you didn't answer my question, this isn't exactly a playground, kid." She gave me a questioning (if not a demanding) expression that I felt slightly intimidated under.

"I was with a few friends…but we got separated." I only gave half the truth, a white lie won't be such a big deal I reasoned, besides, this Mai was a complete stranger, like before I wasn't about to spill my guts. Rule number two about strangers – **tread cautiously**.

"Hm, well, this island is a big place. I'm sure your friends are looking for you – hey! Wait a minute! Were you traveling with that moron with the blonde hair – Joey Wheeler, Yugi Mouto, and their cheesy gang?" Mai asked, a lump in my throat appeared. "I saw a couple of younger kids with them, they said they were their sister and brother, but they looked confused for some reason when they saw the two of them…"

She seemed to put two and two together without my answer and straightened up to her full height.

"…then again, it's not my problem." Stated Mai, her eyes not running over me again. "I've got bigger fish to fry, have fun finding that merry little gang of friends 'kay."

My heart suddenly cried out and I latched at one of her ankles covered by her purple boots. She stopped in mid-walk.

"What? Afraid of the dark?" she oozed with arrogance, though it faltered somewhat. I let go of her ankle quickly and stood up with my backpack and lantern ready to go.

"Sort of," was my reply and Mai gave me an intense look.

"I'm not much of a kid person, if you want to tag along, you have to do what I say – got it?" she seemed rather bossy, but that's fine with me.

"Right, but only if you can get me into the castle." I said as I pointed off in the distance where Pegasus' castle sat. Mai smirked.

"Oh please, we don't need to band together and bond through the Heart of the Cards to get there. Trust me," she winked at me, "I planned on getting that far from the beginning."

**At the castle, Pegasus's Suite**

Maximillion Pegasus was a prestigious man with high expectations, so what if he enjoyed cartoons featuring clever rabbits and basing the theme of his deck on a child's world? He was a dangerous, wealthy, well-dressed man and that's all his guards and staff really bothered thinking of him as.

It was late, but time wasn't a big deal at this point in the game. He didn't play any part until that Yugi-boy gained ten star chips and since he gave the Wheeler kid one of his own, so he could participate, Pegasus believed he'll be waiting an extra few hours or maybe even a day than he planned before facing off against Yugi and getting his hands on his Sennen item.

What was curious to him now was a report Croquet verbally gave him from Kemo. It was most peculiar, but Pegasus wasn't all together surprised. Somehow the guards let a few uninvited children under the age fourteen onto the ship, but those kids wouldn't upset the balance of his plans he was certain. Why they came wasn't a mystery to him, he was hosting a huge tournament and being here was almost like getting flowers from Seto Kaiba.

At the moment, Pegasus smirked, Kaiba-boy wouldn't be in such high spirits…

The kids didn't concern him, but Kemo had said they had claimed they were tagging along with Mutou's gang and going along with the lie that they were somehow related to a couple of them.

That was a lie to avoid being forced off the island no doubt, but tagging along with Yugi Mutou didn't seem like such a good idea, Pegasus almost felt a tinge of sympathy for the stowaways. Of course, it's not his fault there were underage children on his island in possibly perilous situations, their parents can't sue him. Even if they tried he had the top lawyers and attorneys from both countries of Japan and the United States.

With the help of his lamp light on the nightstand beside his bed, Pegasus crossed his feet before picking up a small stack of eight by eleven inch photos from the wooden surface. A glare bounced off of each of them from the lamp light bulb, but his one eye could see them perfectly.

The children consisted of an average-looking, all around Japanese boy and girl. Yet the one that held most of his attention was the blonde girl, her face was turned away from the spy cam, so he could not see her facial features. She didn't look native at all, in fact, she looked familiar in a strange sort of way he couldn't put his finger on. The feeling was practically tugging at his heartstrings, it was dreadful.

Running a hand through his hair he rested the back of his head against the cherry-colored wooden frame of his king-sized bed. Closing his single, visible eye brought unwanted memories to his mind, playing before him as a tragic reminder.

Memories of Cyndia were unwanted for the sole reason they were not real, the physical being of his beloved was in a cold grave in a beautiful courtyard she had adored in New York. Somewhere in his subconscious, he knew what he was attempting to do was selfish and practically impossible.

Bringing back the dead.

What a childish idea.

_It was so like him._

Since their parents were business partners and extremely busy, Pegasus recalled multiple times they went for almost _months_ without seeing each other. Ever since they were younger they held a certain fondness for one another, from childhood sweethearts they became affectionate lovers. He remembered one time…

He shook his head, Cyndia had been away from him for almost more than a year after that day she turned seventeen. He hated recalling the twelve months of her absence, he was eighteen at the time and the worst of it, he believed he would never have seen her again since they made that decision…that reckless, teenage-driven choice he regrets to this very day.

In fact, he was certain he was the reason she had gone and not because her father suddenly had a trip across the world.

The day she came back, Pegasus remembered it well. She was pale in comparison to his memory of her a year before and thinner, her golden hair lacking it's original healthy glow. He didn't know it then, but he had been witnessing the first signs of her growing life-threatening illness. As the young man he was, he was simply overjoyed to see her again and accepted her back into his arms without question.

Four years later, he lost her again, this time permanently. He had a plan to change that though, thanks to his Egyptian expedition and Shadi.

Pegasus held the photos limply in his left hand, he reopened his eye again to look at the blonde girl one more time before retiring for the night. His heart was crying again, it normally did, but now, it seemed (dare he think it) happier?

A relief he hadn't felt in a long time developed as he continued observing the photograph of the blonde girl, but he didn't understand why. It must have been the similarities between the blonde girl and the girl Cyndia had been when they first met he mentally reasoned.

Again, he didn't care much for these little trespassers and if they got in trouble, he wasn't going to be the one to save them. After all, they're not _his_ kids.

**Domino City, Penny's house**

Mrs. Kimura couldn't believe it, of course she was concerned about the well-being of her only child, but the fact she was missing bothered her more so than the average mother whose child was kidnapped. She knew Penny was only eight, knew she was only in elementary school, but _damnit! _She was _scary-smart_ for an eight-year-old and the events that have been occurring over the last week terrified her.

Her sister, Ai, had called yesterday claiming Penny wasn't back from school and hadn't called. Mrs. Kimura called the school, they said Penny had already left, her teacher stating she went with a couple of friends somewhere.

Not on the verge of panicking just yet, Mrs. Kimura tried a few more possible contacts before becoming frantic. She hadn't informed her husband of their daughter's growing curiosity or the reason she had been banned from the Internet, she didn't want him to know. Yet when the next day arrived without a word from Penny, Mr. Kimura went off the deep end and called people from his address book his wife didn't even know about. He never left his office while she was interrogated by the police and when she offered to put up fliers with Ai, he demanded they leave Penny's picture classified and only give a description to the cops.

Knowing the reason for his actions sent chills down Mrs. Kimura's spine, but the extant he was going through to keep his reason secret began to terrify his spouse.

Knowing what he might do to her and innocent people involved like Penny if she ever found out made her blood run cold.

* * *

**To TheShadowsOfSignifigance:**_ Thank you so much for you review, I hope you continue to review since I find your advice extremely helpful and comments are heavily appreciated._

_Thank you to all your reviews!_

**A/N:**

_I love the female characters in YGO for some bizarre reason, I don't like GX and I certainly didn't like Alexis mostly because of her outfit, Tea and Mai's skirts were short, but unlike Alexis, they didn't seem as...looking for a word...skanky? It seems Alexis' chest and overall appearance is extremely exaggerated and I know Japanese artists are like that, but it seems they were really dogging for a lusty character in Alexis and I really didn't like that. Plus the plot, the animation, the duels were not as great as the original YGO. I haven't even tried to watch 5D, so I can't say anything about that. _

_I enjoy Tea, Mai, Rebecca, Cyndia, and Isis since they are strong in a sense, Cyndia we don't get much background on since she dies before the story begins. Rebecca is like Penny in a way, I think they would be great friends. Tea may be cheesy, but so is everybody else since they agree with her on it. Mai is just a pretty, no b.s. kind of woman in my pov and Isis, she's just this solid rock of information and she's in CHARGE of her own business. Unlike most animes and stories, these girls aren't just thrown in for pure comedy relief or to bash a guy's head in, they're not fangirls or terribly unreasonable. Sure Tea shouts at Joey and Tristan and gets aggravated with them, but who wouldn't? Rebecca comes out to be a smart-alec in the beginning, but she's a little girl who gains a crush on Yugi and matures with the coming Orichalcos season. _

_The characters are well-rounded and aren't a bunch of overly gorgeous, gentle, sweet-hearted women with hearts bouncing out of her heads whenever they come across a bishonen. You can meet these kind of girls in real life is what I'm saying, sure they aren't saving the world (a few are in indirect means a.k.a. Isis,) but I'm glad they're not facing off against people who want to take over the world via duel monster cards._

_I mean, seriously, universal takeover with trading cards? YGO needs a new plot._


	6. Duel Five: MaI's CoNdItIoNs

**Duel Five: MaI's CoNdItIoNs**

_Disclaimer:_ YGO belongs to Kazuki Takahashi & some of the lines in this chapter belong to YGO "Duelist" volume 2.

"_Yawn…_attack Harpy Queens – _Triangle Ecstasy Spark!_" Mai ordered coolly, obviously bored out of her mind. The opposing duelist cried out in despair as his monsters were defeated, after he handed Mai his remaining star chips did the blonde woman leave the platform. I was waiting for her with our bags some distance away, the time she was gone I was observing her duel and scanning over my cards to kill the time.

"How do you know what to with them? It's all so confusing," I confessed as I shuffled through my forty-some cards. Mai picked up her sack while I stood up and did the same with my backpack. Staring down at me, her eye brows rose.

"I remember you telling me you had no idea how to duel…" Mai trailed off as she looked up in thought, "I guess I _could_ try and educate you, but in the end what's the point? A kid like you doesn't have the ambition or drive to do anything great with them? Not to mention it takes a load of strategy,"

I frowned up at her, my orange eyes flashing slightly. She wasn't paying attention as her eyes wandered away, but I knew when I was being degraded when it was happening.

"I understand _some_ of it, what I'm saying is that their attacks and what monsters they can – er – morph-"

"Polymerize," Mai corrected without so much as glancing in my direction, I huffed, at least she was listening to me.

"-with," I continued, "aren't listed on the cards. How the heck do you people know what you're doing?"

"Look kid,"

"I have a name y'know,"

"You're starting to annoy me," Mai claimed, completely ignoring what I had said, "either pipe down a little or wander off on your own."

"I'll just follow you," was my reply, Mai frowned.

"Not if I threaten you," she replied, I cocked my head innocently.

"You're an adult, you could go to jail." I retorted smartly, Mai nearly slapped herself out of aggravation.

"Just be quiet," she snarled as she began walking away, obeying her demand (for now) I followed. The sun was setting for the day and I hadn't seen hide nor hair of Ran or Minoru, but it seemed Mai's run-in with their group had left her confused. Since last night, I could hear her talking to herself or looking off in the distance as if in deep thought – when she didn't appear bored that is.

Taking a seat on a grassy, slightly inclined hill, Mai rambled on about how she lost to someone like _him_. I could only assume she was speaking of Yugi Mutou. It's not like I can blame her, the kid is my height and has a heart made out of marshmallows, in truth I couldn't see her losing to him either.

"What's something you can show, but not see?" Mai suddenly asked no one in particular.

"Um…a bald guy wearing a toupee?"

"A skinny girl with a _D_-cup? No…that's not it…"

Although I couldn't fathom most of her ramblings, I decided not to add any of my suggestions. This was _her _issue to resolve anyway.

"I finally found you!" someone cried, Mai and I looked to our left to see another duelist. "Mai Valentine!"

I narrowed my eyes on him – he looked SO familiar! Oh, right…

"Hey, you're that guy who lost to that other guy with the bug cards!" I cried, Mai laughed and the duelist fumed.

"Hey! It's Rex Raptor! The world's greatest duelist so watch your tongue!" I frowned.

"How are _you_ the world's greatest duelist if you lost to that Weevil Underlog or whatever?" I questioned, Mai's laughter subsided as Rex decided to ignore me (to the best of his ability) and glare at the older blonde.

"I wanted to thank you for making a fool out of me on the ship!" he growled, Mai began rubbing her temples in exasperation.

_Another irritation…#$%..._

"Play me one more time right here!" Rex demanded.

"Shut up!" Mai suddenly shouted, it actually startled me. Her vibrant purple eyes glowered at the dinosaur duelist. "I'm not interested in fighting somebody I've already beaten once! Get lost! Shoo!"

"Grrr…" Rex growled, "What'd you say?! Why you…making fun of me _again_ eh…?"

"_Listen!_ In case you forgot, I was the runner-up in the last tournament, out of everyone in Japan! I even have _five_ star chips already! I'm going to win this time!" Rex finished, Mai turned away to run a hand through her hair out of frustration, leaving me to throw a dart at the duelist's head.

"So what? Mai's got eight," I stuck my tongue out at him, Rex took a step back, his face contorted into an expression crossed with irritation and surprise.

"What – eight?" On cue, Mai gave him a look at her almost-full gauntlet, Rex's jaw fell in shock.

"You get it? Two more star chips and I'll be in Pegasus's castle! But don't be afraid…I've already decided who I'm going to get my last two star chips from! And believe me, he's not a loser like you!" Mai snapped.

"Who is it? Yugi?" asked Rex, I looked to her as well, wanting to know the answer almost as much as he does. Mai stared off into the approaching sunset.

"But before I do that…there's another guy I have to take down…" Mai said, I glanced at her.

_So it wasn't Yugi she had lost to…then who…?_ Mai suddenly looked over at Rex.

"All right Rex, I'll duel you!"

"You mean it?" Rex cried jubilantly, I frowned at Mai, the older blonde smirked.

"Under two conditions, you have to beat someone for me first plus you have to defeat Penny here, in a duel." Mai stated as one of her hands landed on my head. I peered up at her as if she had just confessed that she was my long-lost mother. Rex looked as if someone just stuck something foul-smelling under his nose.

"_What?_ You want me to _duel_ runty here-"

"You're not one to talk Dino Midget," I snapped.

"-why? She doesn't even have star chips let alone she doesn't even look old enough to even _be_ here!"

"Tsk tsk, Rex, don't you want to duel me?" Mai teased, Rex and I both continued to gape at her.

"Um, yeah, of course I do-"

"Then duel Penny and one other person of my choosing and you're free to challenge me." Explained Mai, then she winked in his direction. "By the way, until you meet the requirements you're my slave – got it?"

"W-What?!" exclaimed Rex, I nearly rolled my eyes. What was _he_ freaking out over? I'm the one that has to duel a Champion runner-up!

"Fine, I accept!" My face fell.

_Of course he does…_

"Will that Holographic Simulator be fine with you?" I was so depressed over Mai's proposal that I wasn't surprised when Rex questioned me. With my amateur-level deck I nodded then stood, Mai got up and walked with us over to the projector several meters away. Rex took blue and I took the red side, after watching Mai step onto it many times earlier today, I loaded onto the platform easily. I tried not to flinch when the machine shuddered then lifted me up.

I looked down at the grid I knew duelists were supposed to put their cards on to play them, but why were there so many spots? What the heck!?

I peered down at Mai who stood with her arms crossed, she waved up at me cheerfully.

"Good luck!" she cried, I nearly body-faulted.

"You're going to help me _aren't_ you?" I didn't want to beg, but I must have sounded like it as Mai glanced over at Rex.

"Why bother myself? Just ask the _World's Greatest Duelist_," she said loudly so Rex could hear as she pointed over at him, I sighed when Rex grunted.

"What? You don't even know how to duel? What kind of game are you playing Valentine?" Rex snarled, Mai waved him off too.

"Just duel already, I have other duels to win and a castle to get into." Stated Mai, I looked down at the grid, more baffled than before. If this was what Mai wanted then so be it, that meant the quicker I lose the quicker we'll get into the castle, so I can talk with Pegasus.

But it'll really smart if I do lose – even if I'm no good at it, losing never appealed to me.

"Whatever, since you don't know how to duel, I'll go first to demonstrate – pay attention," Rex stated as he drew five cards, our life points automatically lit up to 2000 off the side of the panel. My right eye twitched.

"I summon Uraby!" I watched after he pulled five cards from the deck he placed beside the panel, I did the same on the opposite side. I also pulled out five cards as soon as a giant dinosaur was formed on the field. My eyes must have been bulging from their sockets because Mai was saying something to me, but I didn't hear her.

"Calm down Penny, it's just an image." She said, I gulped at the attack and defense points of the monster that measured up to 1500 and 800 respectively. I peered down at my deck.

"I'll go easy on you," said Rex, although I should have been grateful, his cocky attitude didn't make the situation any better. "So I'll leave my turn at this, go for it."

Glancing down at my cards, I mulled over my memories of my other cards sitting in my deck. Mai said this was all on strategy, but what if I didn't know my cards well enough to put one all together? Frustrated I glared down at the five cards sitting helplessly in my hands.

"I…er…" Ran said something about not having to reveal your cards outright at first, that I could put them face down if I wanted to.

"What?" Rex obviously took my incoherent mumblings as an attempt to ask a question, his arms were crossed and his posture claimed he was becoming rapidly impatient. Now irritated with him, I had to bite my tongue from back-talking.

"Um…to put a monster in defense mode I have to put it side-ways right?" I questioned, Rex nodded.

"Yeah, put the cards in between the lines, the ones criss-crossing," that didn't make complete sense to me, but common sense told me I would have to put the cards vertically down on the grid that was shaped like a card. I'm guessing they would have to cross over if I put them down in defense mode.

"Right, then I put down this monster card face-down in defense mode and put another card face-down behind it," guessing right, two large holographic images of face-down duel cards appeared on my side of the simulator. I sighed in relief, at least I managed how to put the cards down right.

"You shouldn't tell me what kind of cards you put down y'know," Rex scolded lightly, I went red out of embarrassment.

"Oh…okay," for the first time in my life since I started socializing with the rest of the world, I was becoming flustered.

"Are you done with your turn?" Rex asked, the impatience in his tone growing significantly.

"Yeah,"

"All right then, I summon another monster – Sword Arm of Dragon!" Without thinking further, Rex also ordered an attack on my face-down monster card.

The dinosaur lunged at it and with it's tail, it struck the card. I watched in fascination when my card revealed it's hidden monster – the Mystical Elf and since the defense points were higher than the Sword Arm of Dragon, my jaw dropped when the dinosaur was destroyed instead. The card shattered to pieces and Rex's life points went down accordingly.

I couldn't help, but laugh outright – not from arrogance, but just that something like that happened. I was almost doubled over in laughter when I took a second glance at Rex's face, he looked so confused and bewildered an eight-year-old had place a monster with such high defense points face-down against him. Even Mai covered her mouth to laugh softly behind it.

When my laughter subsided I found myself wiping my eyes from the tears that leaked out. Rex snapped back into reality and for some reason or another, didn't seem as impatient as he did a moment ago.

"Hmph! Not bad, Runt," he said, although he wasn't very impressed he did let a small smile get through his tough façade. I looked at his life points that now read 1750. I grinned despite myself, sure I wasn't a genius at the game and despite my intelligent nature (most of the time) I figured I might not even win this duel. Yet playing it…it was fun, I have to admit. Especially since I have the chance to see my duel monster cards huge and up-close in 3D!

"I put one card face-down on my side and end my turn," Rex claimed a second later. More confidently than before, I drew a card from my deck and eyed the ones in my hands. I peered onto the field where the Uraby stood without movement on Rex's side.

"I also put a card face-down, your turn." I decided as another card showed up beside the other one. Rex raised an eyebrow and Mai brought a finger to her shiny lips, her purple eyes rather fixated on me. I briefly wondered what was going through her head at that moment.

"If you say so," Rex said as he drew another card, he grinned. "I play Two-headed King Rex!"

Another giant dinosaur emerged from the floor of the simulator, its scales were purple and their horned heads faced my direction. I felt incredibly safe behind my Mystical Elf, but Rex apparently had other plans.

"I'm not done yet, I play the magic card – Stop Defense!" Rex summoned another card, however, instead of summoning graphics, my elf simply went from defense mode to attack mode, my heart plummeted into my stomach.

"I think you know what's coming next – Two-headed King Rex! Attack the Mystical Elf!" I closed my eyes when a bright light emitted from the elf the dinosaur lunged at her fangs bared. A feminine cry escaped the blue elf's lips as my life points went down to 1200.

"Hang in there Penny – oh, no…" Mai trailed off, I looked down at her curiously.

"What is it?" I asked, Mai shook her head as her brows rose in worry.

"I'm starting to sound like Yugi's cheerleaders," she remarked, I sweat-dropped.

"Your turn," Rex said and I drew another card. My heart returned to it's original state when I saw the new card. I even giggled in excitement, Rex suddenly appeared rather abashed by my strange behavior and took it as a bad sign.

_Calm down Rex, even if she did pull out some trump card she can't BEAT you with an amateur's deck…_ the dino duelist thought to himself as I placed the card down on the panel.

"I pass," I said, but when Rex nearly stared at me I frowned, "I'm allowed to do that right?"

"Yeah, but…okay," Rex drew another card and peered down at his hand, his eyes did not light up at they had when he drew the Rex card.

"I summon the Crawling Dragon #2," Rex was losing interest, he thought I had nothing else up my sleeve. "I'm done, go."

"I summon the Celtic Guardian!" I cried, the blonde elf appeared on the field wielding his sword.

"Cool, but it's attack points are too low," Rex snarled, I huffed.

"I know that dino midget, I may be in grade school but I can do my own math thank you very much!" I retorted, I put down another card. "I activated my own magic card! Change of Heart!"

A girl shrouded in shadows only on her right side appeared, a red Valentine heart hovered over her heavenward palms. Rex yelped.

"I choose to control your Two-headed King Rex!" the girl soared over the field and fused with the purple dinosaur. "Now destroy Uraby and Crawling Dragon #2!"

Swiftly, Rex's life points went down to 1550 as his weaker monsters were sent to the graveyard. I put my magic card into my own as well. Rex's eyes narrowed.

"Are you done yet?" he asked skeptically, I allowed a smirk to slip through my childish façade.

"Nope, I also play Rush Recklessly!" A blood-red boar appeared on the field and ran madly into the Celtic Guardian, my sole monster on the field. Once fused, the elf's attack points rose to 2100.

"Now! Attack the Two-headed King Rex!" cried Penny, by the time Rex's life points reached 1250 I bouncing about in an unfamiliar giddy euphoria. Even though the magic card was placed directly in the graveyard after my turn ended, I happily accepted the fact I might lose.

This was really fun to do!

"My turn – you won't last much longer kid!" Rex cried, obviously irritated the combination of my cards knocked his life points down so far. He probably believed he would never have had lost even a single one dueling against me.

"No, let me rephrase," Rex growled as he happily put down another card, his eyes lit up with fascination. My hopes went downhill when I realized the monster he summoned.

"You're finished here and now! Behold! The Red Eyes Black Dragon!" I gulped, I couldn't top that!

"Let's not forget the accessories," Rex continued as he put another magic card down – Dark Dragon Claws.

The dragon's power went up to 3100 points!

"Attack her puny elf warrior Red Eyes!" Rex commanded and right before me, I watched as my life points dropped down to zero. My first duel concluded that like that. As the simulator vanquished the holographic images of the monsters, I collected my cards back into a deck.

I didn't like the fact I had lost – who does? But it was _fun_, there was no other way to explain what I had felt. I had a whole new respect for the game, for the cards Ran convinced to me to get, and for the first time, I felt like I was a_ part_ of something. Something_ fun _and _wonderful_ that I could share with other people and not be ridiculed for it.

When Rex and I both reached the ground and joined back up with Mai, it was me that reached out for his hand.

"That was really fun, let's do it again sometime - when I get better of course!" Rex and Mai were both surprised by my show of sportsmanship, Rex reluctantly took my hand and shook it. Then his face softened and he let out a grin.

"Fine by me!" Mai sighed.

"All right, your next duel." I peered up at the older woman, what? No "good job?" I frowned then shrugged.

_All well.

* * *

_

**To ShadowsOfSignifigance: **_Aw, I don't want to spoil the plot. I don't really enjoy it when writers on don't do their research before they write, sure go ahead and write some cliche (if it's intentional that is.) Yet when people write out what they research (especially us ignorant American young people) they're not only educating themselves, but other people too. It's true honor is everything to Japanese people, but that also goes for the Chinese. As much as I love Disney, things simply don't happen out of miraculous tales of faith in love y'know? I love fluff as much as the next happy person, but reality can be harsh and everything has a dark side to it. I reread my first chapter and didn't see where I had described Penny's eyes as blue, they're very orange. ^^ I had thought of making them blue at first, but I think that color's a little too recessive matching up against an orange gene...but that might just be me. I'm trying to delve into a bit of science too while I'm writing this, I'm not just yanking things out of a hat...thank you for your review!_


	7. Duel Six: HoW mUcH lOnGeR

**Duel Six: HoW mUcH lOnGeR**

Mai was leading us (as in Rex and I) along a dirt-ridden trail and with each step, I became more nervous than the last. Following Mai and Rex would lead to running back into Minoru and Ran, as much as I would enjoy chastising Minoru and chatting with Ran again, I simply was not comfortable with returning to them now.

Another thing, _I _did not want to return to _them_, it should be the other way around! First of all, Minoru ran off with not so much as a kind word back at me – _he _ should _definitely_ come crawling back to me to grovel for forgiveness. Ran I could handle a light apology, I was the one who basically left her, but _she _hesitated!

I guess I wasn't really the forgiving type.

Thinking this, my mind began to engage on another 'runaway' plan. I'm fairly certain Mai would get me into the castle after the duel she wants, but now that I think about it, if I go along with her _now_ I would meet up with Yugi and his friends, which meant Minoru and Ran.

If I stayed with Mai long enough and did reach the castle with her, I would probably end up meeting the same group if they managed to gain ten star chips around the same time.

It might be a little immature, but I didn't want to be around Minoru or Ran until they knew they made mistakes. I'm not going to be the one to bring up our argument and I was not going to apologize (except to _maybe_ Ran of course.)

This led me to two options – run off on my own towards the castle and somehow manage to get in or hide when we came across Minoru and Ran.

Recalling our incident with the security guards coming off the ship, I decided hiding wasn't my greatest option. Yet if I went off on my own…well, I _do_ have a couple of lunchmeat sandwiches left (Mai had been providing me with food since I lied to her about not having any of my own.) What would I do? The first thought that came to mind was getting to the castle and figuring out how to get into it, undetected that is I doubt the guards will just let me stroll into it to speak with Pegasus. Unless Pegasus was present near the front of the castle…the very idea made my heart feel funny.

Thinking more over the subject made my mind feel a little fuzzy and at some point I stopped walking. Rex, who had been walking closest (Mai was further ahead of us) was the first to notice my absence.

"Hey, kid, you coming?" Rex said, I had been gazing upwards at the castle before snapping my gaze back at him, where I found Rex and Mai staring back me, frozen in their paces as well.

"Oh, yeah, just thought I saw a…uh deer!" _Wow, lame excuse genius, deer don't live on islands._ I growled inwardly, _deer DO live in Japan though!_ After correcting myself, I barely registered Rex saying something under his breath about 'kids' and he and Mai continued on their small trek.

I resumed my walk in deep thought, frowning, I peered back up at the castle. I huffed, this wasn't about Ran, Minoru, Mai's duel, or even the tournament taking place.

_How much longer do I have to wait?_ Images of Mama, Father, and Auntie Ai raced across my mind. My eyes began to tear and a sick feeling of homesickness snuck into the pit of my stomach. Feeling my eyes burn red, I hurried off in a perpendicular direction to Mai and Rex. They didn't hear nor notice my retreating figure, but even if I didn't check, I wouldn't have cared unless they came chasing after me.

I didn't realize this kind of feeling could come on so fast, nor have I ever felt it before. Perhaps it had something to do being my first trip (with permission or without) ever without being with one of my parents or my aunt. Sure, my trips never expanded past the small picnics my class would sometimes take in the nearby park at my school, but they never lasted longer than an hour or two. Here it's been a couple of days and suddenly I was feeling miserable.

Crying pathetically into my arms after finding a secluded spot in between some bushy trees, sobs racked my small body until I quieted and I fell asleep in the shade of the trees.

I had a dream, like most protagonists do in the cheesy kid shows I sometimes managed to watch or heard my classmates talk about. Yet I wasn't in a deserted hallway running in place trying to get to the end of it and being unsuccessful.

I woke up where I fell asleep in this dream, the main difference between the forest now and then was that everything had a greater, darker shadow. It looked like the outline to everything seemed made out of ink drawn with a bamboo brush, the breeze was constant, so the trees were constantly swaying and making typical leaf-swaying sounds.

I stood up, I felt light but that was probably because I didn't have my backpack on. Another thing I noticed was my change in clothes – I was in a white, sleeveless dress with floral hemming.

Without a sound, I stepped forward, my foot didn't make any noise once it made contact with the ground. I wasn't worried, or at least I didn't feel worried.

"_Max?"_ a voice called out softly, I stopped quickly. Baffled I craned my neck, trying to find the person who spoke. The voice belonged to a woman, one that had sweet, gentle nature. I shook my head, no one came to mind when it came to being sweet.

"_Max?"_ the woman continued to call out, her voice didn't sound any closer, in fact, she sounded like she was right behind me. I was proven wrong when I turned around and found nothing but air. Birds chirped in the distance and the voice remained silent.

"_Max…?"_ The voice began to trail off as if she were leaving me, when I went to speak, a large hand landed on my left shoulder. Nearly jumping out of my skin, I reluctantly peered up at the owner to the hand. My eyes widened.

_Celtic Guardian?_ I would have said it if it were not for another voice that spoke up at the same time I was about to open my mouth.

"_Cyndia?"_ this time a familiar, masculine voice spoke up, again, without an owner. My eyes whizzed around looking for the man whom had spoken, but the elf's hand softly squeezed my shoulder. My gaze landed on him again, his liquid orange eyes making contact with my own. He didn't speak, I don't believe he could, but his expression remained stoic and blank. I wanted to ask what was going on and how a Duel Monster card was, well, not a card.

Something soft whispered in my ear in what might have been the Celtic Guardian's voice as it sounded nothing like the other two voices.

_**You cannot help them.**_ I frowned, that wasn't my intention to begin with.

The forest shifted around us and panic entered my system when a cloaked being appeared across from the Celtic Guardian and I. Instinctively, I backed up into the elf with fear written all over my features. The creature's cloak was black and beneath it's hood I could make out glowing white eyes and a sad mouth. It held out a ratted, gnarled hand and a giant scythe materialized into it. I went pale.

Blood marked the edges of the scythe's blade and I automatically clung to the Celtic Guardian's arm when he placed it over me, pulling his cape along with his fingers to partially hide me from the monster.

Was it another Duel Monster?

The creature gave out an ethereal, cackling shriek and I noticed how the Celtic Guardian's sword had been drawn and readied before it.

The black creature lunged at us, scythe raised, poised, aiming for me.

"_Cyndia!"_

The woman never answered the man back.

I woke up from the dream with a shudder, not in a cold sweat like I had just ran a marathon, but I was shaken. I had probably been sleeping for only an hour or so, the sun was still burning brightly above the island. Getting back up onto my now wobbly legs, I tried to shrug off the nightmare as just that, a nightmare.

On the other hand, I couldn't ignore the feeling that the dream _had to do with something_, but what? Why? And what was with Celtic Guardian being in my dream? He had no business there.

I figured, in the end, if the black creature had to be in there, it was probably a good thing the Celtic Guardian was around.

With a tired sigh (even though I had just awoken) I heaved the backpack up and around my shoulders before recollecting my thoughts. Easily spotting the castle's tall towers through the tree canopies, I began walking toward it. As I walked I became paranoid – I felt every tree hid a sinister, cloaked monster with a blood-stained scythe preparing to strike me down. Going into a jog then into a run, I tore through the grass toward the castle, my paranoia giving me the impression there _is_ something watching me.

I slowed down when I left the forest behind and entered a sort of clearing beside the base of the castle. Looking up at it, my eyes became huge. I was under the impression a dragon would suddenly appear on the tip top with flames sparking from it's nostrils.

"Let me outta here!" I started, looking around for the person – a boy – who yelled. When I couldn't see anyone, I began having massive déjà vu.

"Wait till my brother gets here!" The boy's voice was soft even though I could tell he was shouting, I heard something heavy moving. Looking at the castle, I found a door opening and quickly hid into some nearby bushes.

"Shut up, Runt!" It was Kemo, I gulped as I ducked further into the bushes. After Kemo and a couple of his goons walked off, the door began to shut. Wasting no time and thinking this being my one and only opportunity, I bolted from the bushes and dove through the door.

I discovered the hard way diving through a door was not a great idea – I accidently progressed into a somersault which thumped my head into the concrete floor, successfully knocking the wind out of my lungs for several seconds.

"Whoa, are you okay?" it was the boy I heard before, but a sudden throbbing on the top of my head made it hard for me to understand him at first. Tears pricked at my corneas and grasping my head, I felt something wet and sticky.

"Hey, you're bleeding!" the boy cried, concern evident in his tone. I clutched my head in agony and the cries coming out of me made my headache even worse.

"Hey! Somebody! HELP!" the boy cried out, but it seemed no one could hear him. Opening one eye I managed to make out we were in the castle's basement, or dungeon by the looks of those bars.

"Here, hold on! Could you try and get over here – closer to me?" the boy asked, trying to think through the pain and feel moving anymore would be beneficial, I kicked at the floor in attempt to push my way over to the boy that was behind the bars.

"A little closer…" the boy said as he reached out through the bars, my sobbing began to slowly ebb away and I reached out with one of my hands that had been clutching at my bleeding scalp. The boy's hand wrapped around my forearm and he helped me the rest of the way.

The boy helped me raise my head and put something under it. I figured it was a pillow, but when my eyes began to droop he pushed something against my fresh wound.

"_OWW!_" A string of swear words I heard Father use whenever he stubs his toe or something in the news happens he doesn't shot out of my mouth. The boy had a smile in his voice.

"There, that should stop the bleeding – or at least, I hope it will. I think it would be a good idea for you not to fall asleep though," the boy said, I nodded weakly, my hands over my forehead, covering my tearing eyes.

"Right, concussions…" I managed to mumble out, trying to sound somewhat smart after my stupid mishap with the floor.

Lesson learned: _never_ dive headfirst through a door.

The boy nodded.

"My name's Mokuba," the boy introduced himself, I gave him a thumbs up.

"Cool," I choked out, he frowned.

"What's your name?" he asked, I hesitated.

"Penny," I eventually answered, Mokuba nodded.

"You're not from Japan are you?" he asked, I gave him a weak, but smart look.

"I don't know," I answered, I wasn't sure if I was being honest or not.

"How do you not know? Did that bump make you forget?" he lightly joked, I would have shook my head if it weren't hurting so badly.

"I live in Japan," I replied, "but that doesn't mean I'm _from_ it,"

"That would explain the hair," Mokuba was sharp, I really liked it and the fact he wasn't mean or being nasty really soothed my nerves, too bad it couldn't do much against my pain. Since I started really socializing with other kids (alias Ran and Minoru) I felt I would have been alienated like before.

"Not many blonde people in Japan," he continued, I smiled softly to myself. A light pink perked up on my cheeks.

Mokuba continued talking for the next several minutes that eventually became thirty, a while later I was able to sit up, but I held the cloth to my head where the bleeding had stopped. The pain along my skull subsided a little and Mokuba kindly ignored the small amount of blood I had accidently smeared along my face earlier.

"Why are you locked up in here?" I finally asked, Mokuba eyed the iron bars with disgust.

"Because of _him_, Maximillion Pegasus." Mokuba growled, I started slightly.

"He's after my big brother's company and he's holding me hostage, or something like that." Mokuba explained, his dark eyes set off into a corner of his cell as if he were analyzing it. The dungeon was dimly lit and I had half a mind to take out my lantern now that I could think clearly.

"When you feel a little better you're gonna have to get out before they find you – they could put you in a cell too and then we'd BOTH get stuck in here!" Mokuba claimed, he blinked as put the bloodied cloth down then slid my backpack off. If the light was any brighter I would have seen the specks of blood on it too, but I couldn't see that well and had to grope around the inside of the bag before I pulled out the lantern.

At the same time, my deck came piling out, the cards scattered between us.

"Hey, are those Duel Monster cards?" Mokuba questioned as he reached out through the bars and picked one up before I could gather them back together.

"Yeah," I automatically replied as I snapped the lantern on, Mokuba picked one card up after the other, collecting them and putting the deck back together for me as he did.

"My big brother owns this huge company that makes holograms for Duel Monsters, maybe you've heard of it – wait, who am I kidding, of COURSE you know of it! Kaiba Corporation! You know it right?" asked Mokuba, I noticed how every time he spoke of his brother his eyes lit up with admiration.

"It sounds familiar," I muttered out as Mokuba skimmed through my cards in his hands again.

"Do you like to play Duel Monsters or do you just like to collect them?" he asked, he seemed confident that I might not have ever dueled with them before and I had a right mind to tell him I had dueled and the opponent was Rex Raptor. I lost, but still, I did duel with the cards and that was the point.

"Uh, both." I replied, Mokuba smiled.

"Well, it's an O.K. deck for an amateur." Mokuba stated, I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I'm glad you approve," whenever I used grown-up phrases, Father would praise me, Mokuba started laughing.

"You're funny," he said as he moved forward to give me back the cards. I grasped them in one hand before taking a glance at the first card.

_Castle Walls…_ I looked at the next card and it was the _Dragon Capture Jar_. I frowned and Mokuba took notice.

"What's wrong?" he asked, I didn't respond.

_Was it some kind of coincidence?_ Remembering the cards I pulled individually from the pack once I returned home from a shopping spree with Ran, I couldn't help but wonder.

"Mokuba, is…Pegasus a mean person?" I asked nervously, Mokuba's eyebrows rose then furrowed.

"He kidnapped me! Well, _he_ didn't, his goons did, but…" as Mokuba ranted on about some business deal I wasn't aware of and perfectly indifferent to, my mind wandered off. What if this whole trip led to nothing? Should I have waited until I was old enough to read in English then go back to the papers? Were they _even_ adoption papers to begin with?

I closed my eyes tightly.

No, they had to be adoption papers. How else would that explain the different surname? How else would that explain my strange first name?

Penelope Kimura.

_PLP_

**P**enelope **L**ucy **P**egasus.

Would Father and Mama even have told me in the future? This whole experience, camping outside without a tent, stowing away, avoiding the guards, grouping up with the great Yugi Mutou and his friends, meeting Mai, dueling Rex, would all of that even matter in the end?

"Hey," Mokuba whispered, I felt the cool touch of his knuckles graze my cheek.

"Was it something I said?" he continued, guilt laced his purple irises.

"I'm all right," I replied, although I couldn't even convince myself. Mokuba's features relaxed slightly, but the sound of approaching footfalls and the clang of a steel door opening then closing made us both jump to our feet.

The quick movement made my head feel dizzy and I slumped backwards where I found support in the wall opposite of Mokuba's cell.

"Hey, Mokuba – wait, hold on! Kemo!" it was one of the security officers! When I went to move someone grabbed my upper arm and yanked me off my feet. I cried out and went to kick at whatever I could hit. I nailed the one holding me in the shin, but his hold on my arm didn't relinquish.

"It's that girl!" Kemo's voice rang through the dungeon. The smirk was in his voice as he continued to speak. "Oh good, now we can send her back."

A light shone on me, one of the guards hissed.

"Not like this we aren't," a lesser guard spoke up, Mokuba began to yell.

"Leave her alone! She hit her head really hard!" he shouted, the guard holding me must have been Kemo, the other guards at least sounded merciful enough that they probably would have let me stand on my own feet.

"Sir, we have one of the kids that stowed away down here in the dungeon." Kemo spoke into a walkie talkie as Mokuba's cell door was opened and the boy was dragged out into the open.

The device crackled a little.

"Put her back on the ship and send her back home," another man replied, Kemo snarled.

"She's pretty banged up, should we let her get First Aid on the ship then?" Kemo didn't sound like he cared, so I tried not to feel too special.

More crackling.

"Pegasus-sama says bring her to the Medical Ward we have in the castle and let her be treated. We'll put her back on the boat before tonight," my eyes widened as my hand snapped up and swiped the walkie out of Kemo's hands. The man was in shock and stammered as he tried to get it back.

"Hey! I want to talk to Pegasus!" I cried into it, hoping I worked it right as Kemo snatched the walkie from my hand. Mokuba gave me a strange look, I gave him a disappointed look as I watched him being dragged away into the shadows deeper into the dungeon.

"Kemo!" the man on the other side yelped.

"Kemo here sir, the brat got the walkie." Kemo snarled, I growled back up at him.

"I didn't come here to watch some tournament!" I cried tearfully, "Please! I'm so close!"

More crackling, Kemo eventually lowered me so my feet touched the floor.

"Bring her to the Medical Ward, that's all."

* * *

**A/N:**

_Halfway through writing this I decided to take a break to watch Studio Ghibli's "Grave of the Fireflies" for the first time._

_SPOILER BELOW_

_Damn depressing and I kind of wished I didn't continue writing till tomorrow or something, because all I can think about is that little girl dying and her brother having to cremate her himself *tears*_

_I need to go watch a Disney movie or a happier Ghibli film._

_Hope everyone had a Happy New Year!_


	8. Duel Seven: ThE mEdIcAl WaRd

**Duel Seven: ThE mEdIcAl WaRd**

Along the way to the Medical Ward I was going in and out of consciousness in some guard's arms. Pressure had been applied to my head and my eyes could barely remain open. Although I felt like I was dying, what with the massive headache and blood dripping out of it, all I could think about was how close I was to obtaining an answer, but only to fail.

For the first time in a long time, I began thinking like an actual child my age (the last being scolded by Father when I cried and all I wanted was Mama.) I wanted to stay here, not return home to what could have been a lie. Back home where Father and Mama would more than likely be extremely angry.

What if Pegasus and I were related?

What if the reason Father alienated me from everything was to hide me from things connected to Pegasus?

Surely he was everywhere, but why would Father be suspicious? Why would he think I would look at Pegasus and think there was a connection? Granted, these were all assumptions, maybe this was the wrong Pegasus, surely if there were a lot of Smiths and Kimuras in the world, there would be more than one line of Pegasus' right?

I wanted to stop thinking, but the more I thought the stronger the headache and the stronger the headache, the longer I remained awake. What if Pegasus made a personal visit to see me? I don't know why he would with everything else going on, but there was that small percent of a chance…

**Mr. Kimura's Medical Office, Domino City**

"This was _your_ idea," a short, stout man snarled out from a video image on one of the five monitors projected against one of Kimura's office walls. His door was locked and the walls were soundproof, plus he had done this for years, he had plenty of practice keeping things secret. Very much like his business partners – the Big Five.

"Otaki-san, if you are so concerned, then get the girl yourself. One of your _loyal_ cronies has already spied the girl on the island, it's not as if her location is unknown." Kimura replied back, ceasing any venom he felt he wanted to spout at the five buffoons in suits.

"Yes, but she is a potential threat if Pegasus finds out about her origins," another man, Ooka Chikuzen, retorted sharply, giving the doctor a sardonic look.

"She doesn't even know anything,"

"Then _why_ is she even on that island?"

"Possible peer pressure," replied Kimura with ease, although his eyebrow ticked every five seconds from irritation.

"We have to keep her alive and out of harm's way, at least until we can hold her against Pegasus." Tatieichino claimed firmly, "these rules were set eight years ago after you aided the late Cyndia Pegasus in childbirth."

Kimura sneered grimly, the Pegasus' wedding procession barely made it to the vows before Cyndia's liver and lungs ultimately began shutting down. Kimura had been Cyndia's doctor since he graduated medical school with a steep loan debt. He marveled in the memory of when he first witnessed her grace and beauty, her soft voice and vibrant eyes. He also, quite vividly, recalled the equally handsome man Cyndia fell passionately in love with. He had only seen the silver-haired man once in person, but when he did it was after Cyndia's return from a year-long trip 'around the world.'

At least, that was _her _excuse. What Pegasus never knew was that Cyndia had come to Kimura seeking help, that she had taken pregnancy tests left and right and all pointed towards positive. The blonde beauty felt guilty about not waiting at least until their wedding night (she knew Pegasus' intentions of proposing to her since he requested for an audience with her parents one day.)

Abortion was not an option, she _wanted_ children, but had been warned against it by multiple physicians and family members. Although a healthy glow radiated from her from the outside, an illness lay dormant within her brain.

Kimura strolled down memory lane as the Big Five continued to verbally plan the next step that had so carelessly left the Kimuras' hands – remove the child from the island or put her into effect now.

"Kimura," Dimon said, snapping the doctor out of his daydreaming, "we have decided."

**Back on Pegasus' Island**

Against my wishes, I had fallen into an uncomfortable slumber before the Medical Ward had even come into view. However, I awoke no more than thirty minutes later to a cold, wet cloth on my forehead. Voices speaking back and forth a few feet away.

"-heard Kaiba was out front, dueling Yugi Mutou-"

"You heard right, Pegasus-sama must be enthralled,"

My eyes fluttered softly, I didn't want to give anyone the idea that I was awake. Slowly fixing my eyes on two silhouettes a couple of paces away, I noticed that my head no longer throbbed, instead it only ached. My eyelids were heavy, probably from the lack of sufficient food and sleep for the last couple of days, but I immediately felt restless and couldn't think of falling back asleep.

Daylight was still burning, if the light flooding into the room was any indication. I closed my eyes when the voices drew nearer and someone stepped up to the right side of the bed I was laying on.

"We should keep her overnight, no one on that stupid ship knows the proper first aid if her stitches reopen."

"She only has _ten_ stitches," the other voice grumbled, the cloth was taken away from my forehead.

"She can easily break into a full-blown fever, which is what I'm trying to prevent now - she's already at ninety-nine degrees…"

"Wouldn't it be better to send her to Domino Hospital then?"

"Don't insult Pegasus-sama, or me for that matter, he hires the best." I could assume this was a doctor, the man probably one of Kemo's lackeys.

"I wasn't trying to…" the man trailed off as the doctor walked away and he followed to continue their conversation, I remained still, not wanting to risk being seen moving with them so close by.

I began to wonder just how close I was to Pegasus, would I manage to sneak away and explore the castle (as I still assumed I was held within)? Fatigue pulled at my consciousness again, wanting to lull me back into slumber, my pride refrained me from doing so and my brain continued to ponder.

It barely registered that Yugi was right outside the castle, dueling Kaiba…the Kaiba, Mokuba's older brother, Kaiba? That was a strange name, maybe it was a surname…well, of course it was, _Kaiba_ Corporation. How many people used their first names as business titles? So Mokuba Kaiba, wonder what he was even doing here. Then again, when those guards came down I was the last person they would expect, so they had came to retrieve Mokuba…but for what?

Approaching footsteps brought me out of my thoughts as a newly dampened cloth was applied to forehead again. The doctor was alone, the guard must have left.

"Kids these days…." He muttered, before walking away, "Makes me think back in the days when Kimura and I worked together….so long ago,"

My eyes shot open.

"Kimura? You knew my Father?" I asked, sitting up abruptly, the cloth falling into my lap. The doctor, an older man (possibly in his sixties) with neatly combed, snow-white hair streaked with silver, turned around slowly, as if he knew I had been awake the entire time. His warm, gray eyes looked through a pair of half-moon glasses at me. He stood straight, donning a white doctor's coat and brown pants.

"Ah, you're awake." The doctor spoke, "Misaki Kimura is your father hm?"

I nodded and his eyes grew bigger, at first, he remained where he was, staring at me in wonder. Then he began to inch near me, almost in disbelief.

"A coincidence, I'm sure, you were curious like those other two children that stowed away." He muttered, but seemingly to himself. I frowned.

"I wasn't curious about the tournament if that's what you're thinking, I only just got some cards a few days ago." I retorted evenly, reminding myself I had to be polite to my elders.

"Coincidence, coincidence," the man continued to mutter as he got closer, his eyes scrutinizing me from head to toe, his eyes getting wider every time.

"There's no way Kimura would have left you without supervision, if what you claim is true," the doctor spoke.

"Who are you and what about my father? What's a coincidence?"

"A coincidence is an event that happens without meaning to, but is remarkable to do so." The doctor explained, although I kept my mouth shut from stating I already knew what a coincidence was.

"I mean _why_ is that it's a coincidence that I'm here?" would I even need to get answers from Pegasus? I consider it an awesome coincidence if this doctor (who apparently worked alongside my father) knew what I wanted to know.

"There's no doubt, you are _her_ daughter, but the eyes, they're not hers." The doctor continued under his breath, his eyes shifting from my hair to my eyes.

"Who?"

"Pardon me Little Lady, my manners are lacking. I am Doctor Morgan Itozani, "

"You said you worked with my father?"

"Misaki Kimura?" he said in a questioning tone, as if believing I had another father.

"Yes,"

"Fine man, but like us all, he was not perfect." Itozani claimed, he sighed, "but those are not the matters a child like yourself should be concerned with, since you are awake, I should inform Kemo-"

"_No!_" I cried, reaching out toward him, "please, _please_ don't." The older man gave me a refined, knowing look.

"You do not know, I can see it." He said, looking me straight in the eyes, I tried not to blink, afraid if we broke the connection I would lose the perfect opportunity.

"What do I not know? Can you tell me? Do you know who my real parents are?" I burst out, the man shook his head lightly.

"So curious, so smart, Kimura was deceptive, probably still is." Itozani looked off into the distance, I briefly wondered if it was time for his retirement, considering he couldn't concentrate on the conversation.

"What do you mean?" I asked, he shook his head again.

"Much too young," he said.

"If I were too young, I wouldn't have taken it upon myself to come here,"

"Ah, but not alone." The doctor replied back cleverly, I shut my mouth tight and fought the urge to cry.

"It is not a matter of knowing and not telling you, Little Lady. It is a matter beyond your imagination, of life and death. I witnessed an event that should not have transpired, I have been sworn to secrecy. If I broke it, you and I would both suffer." The doctor announced softly, I was suddenly under the impression that he thought he was speaking to an adult.

"I've known of you since the day you were born, Penelope." Itozani claimed, my eyebrows rose into my hairline.

"You know my name?"

"You are the adopted daughter of Misaki and Anako Kimura, there is no other Penelope Lucy Kimura." Explained the doctor, I flung the covers off of me and slid out of the bed.

"So I _am_ adopted," I repeated his words to myself, over and over again. "Then you _must_ know my real parents?"

"_I _know of them, _you_ know of them, but _he_ does not know of _you_." The doctor claimed, but he began to look slightly worried as his eyes scanned the Medical Ward several times as if awaiting for someone to pop out of the medicine cabinet.

"It's a coincidence then, that I came here because…Pegasus is my fa-"

"Ssssh," the doctor put his finger to his lips and I never managed to finish my sentence.

"You were not supposed to know of that for a very long time, Little Lady." He said in a hushed whisper, I gave him a pleading gaze and he sighed again. "You are a part of a plot for _power_, Penelope. For grown-ups, it is very dangerous, to involve children makes it very inhumane,"

"I want to meet him," I claimed, the man nodded in understanding, but looked very grim.

"If only we never met Little Lady, if Kimura and the Big Five ever found out that I had the power to stop you from ruining their plans I would be no more. Do you understand? This is no duel, not a fight you can win with strategy, it is a part of the dark side of life. Your conception made you into a pawn,"

"The Big Five? I'm a part of their plans? For what?" I felt like all I had coming out of my mouth were questions, but the older man seemed unwilling to explain, things like that don't happen on criminal shows.

"Oh…I should not have said that, my old age is getting to me." The man almost whimpered.

"What is the Big Five?"

"A business group that work for Kaiba Corp, I will say no more Little Lady," he replied, he was almost jumpy now, a chirp from a bird outside made him swing his head in that direction.

"Kaiba Corp? What is going to happen to Mokuba?" I asked, "what about the duel outside?"

The man looked even grimmer.

"Kaiba is in the castle, Mokuba is beyond my expertise at the moment however," Itozani replied, for some reason, his answer worried me.

"What about Yugi Mutou and the group of people with him?"

"Not in the castle," he replied simply as he turned away, leaving me to my thoughts for a couple of minutes.

This Big Five that worked for Kaiba Corporation, were they connected to Kaiba's appearance here on the island? Are they all connected in this plot against my biological parents? For power? What exactly did Pegasus do?

"Where is he?" I spoke, determination struck every word, Itozani peered over his shoulder at me from across the room to where he wandered to moments earlier. He was standing at a clean table, his hair slightly out of place since he kept running his hands through it nervously.

"Ah, probably dueling against Kaiba now, a couple of floors down at the end of the lobby," he claimed, muttering something else under his breath I couldn't hear. Without any attempts to stop me, I discovered I was barefoot and still attired in clothes from before, specks of blood decorated my shoulders and back.

Finding my shoes on the nightstand beside my medical bed, I slid them on and with one last glance at Itozani, I hurried to the door of the Medical Ward, looked for guards or Kemo then ran out.

Had I stayed longer, I would have noticed the old-fashioned cradle telephone Itozani had been blocking from my view on the table.


	9. Duel Eight: PiNkY pRoMiSeS

**Duel Eight: PiNkY pRoMiSeS**

**While Penny is taken to the Medical Ward**

Even Minoru was at a complete loss as he and the others stared down at Yugi, who had just recently been beaten by another of his role models. Who knew Seto Kaiba could be so harsh and…desperate? The young boy couldn't tear his eyes from the downtrodden Yugi who had been unceremoniously ripped of his dueling title (was that even official with that stunt Kaiba pulled?) Now, for whatever reason, Yugi was so out of it the two kids were as oblivious as Slime Tokens.

_It's just a tournament,_ Ran thought, although her gut clenched at the sight of Yugi for some reason, _sure Kaiba was a big jerk, but to get all down like this isn't right._

Ran gazed over at Minoru who gazed back, he was unsure of what to do too so he kept unusually silent.

"Give it a rest you two," Bakura, a newcomer to the group with white hair, said to Joey and Tristan. "Yugi has just lost his chance to get into the castle and save his grandfather, not to forget what Kaiba had just done…"

Ran's eyes widened and so did Minoru's, that surely put the missing pieces of the puzzle in their place, despite the fact there were still unanswered questions. The small brunette looked around aimlessly, somewhere in the pit of her heart she knew Penny wouldn't stand for this. She could practically hear the impatience in her voice…

"_C'mon I have to talk to Pegasus and I don't care if you all have ten star chips or not! I'm not scared!"_ Ran imagined her saying, although the fear in facing Pegasus would certainly show in her bright eyes and lace her words. Guilt tugged at her heartstrings now for the same reason they did when she did not follow Penny before, what kind of friend was she? She had been wondering for the past couple of days - letting her friend run off (as reckless as it had been) and not doing anything about it, where was Penny now? Hopefully she didn't run across anyone dangerous or those bully guards?

Ran shook her head, trying to free herself from those thoughts – Penny was smart, she was at the top of their class – she was probably already in the castle, but Ran couldn't be sure.

"We have to do something," claimed Tea, who was still trying to gain eye contact with her shorter friend.

Ignoring the questioning looks from Ran and Minoru, the four teenagers almost appeared as if they no longer existed – Yugi was the center focus of their concern. Joey said something, Ran's hearing suddenly felt muffled as her attention was cast aside, she saw him hold out his gauntlet to Yugi – was he asking him to take his star chips? The amount Kaiba had taken from Yugi?

"C'mon Yuug, if it weren't for the star chip you gave me I wouldn't have even got this far ya hear me? I owe you this much and besides, in a sense, they're yours anyway," Ran managed to hear, her eyes averted Minoru's. The boy was confused, Ran's face was steadily growing red and her eyes were shining.

"What about your sister Joey?" Bakura brought up, a bubble welled up inside Ran's stomach and slowly began to inflate more and more. She didn't want to hear what Joey had to say, having heard of Serenity during their short time together.

She imagined the time Joey dueled Rex Raptor, winning through a card given to him from Tristan – apparently friendship won that battle? Then there was the time Bakura appeared out of the shadows, transforming into someone else – that was a very strange encounter, one that left the two kids (plus Joey and Tristan) a little more than wary around the new member of their group. Ran shoved it away as a dream (that's what Yugi and Bakura said anyway) but nonetheless, it was weird to imagine she dreamed they were all Duel Monsters – Minoru as a miniature Saggi the Dark Clown and herself as a Getsu Fuhma.

If Ran had managed to stop Penny, had she been a good friend she would have been there – she would have experienced the same dream and maybe have been turned into a monster as well, what she would have been Ran didn't know and imagining the possibility of it happening made her heart ache.

The times they were in the caves, looking for Joey, nearly getting crushed by a rock, Joey and Yugi dueling those wacko twin duelists…

Penny was absent, no where to be found and she could have been sharing those adventures with Ran – the girl she approached…

"_Hi," Penny greeted, her voice sounded nervous as if she hadn't tried to use it before, Ran blinked up at her, wondering why the class loner was talking to her in the middle of a duel._

"_Hey, um, Kimura-san." Penny's eyebrow twitched, why Ran didn't know, at first she thought it wasn't Penny's name. Penny smiled back, but it appeared forced._

"_What are you guys playing?" Ran immediately thought for a top student, Penny Kimura wasn't very bright._

Ran believed she knew now, since she had gotten to know tidbits of Penny's story – that she was forbidden to have her own playthings – even trading cards, she could understand the turmoil she had gone through to speak to Ran in the first place. Of course, she didn't completely appreciate the effort, Penny could have done better she supposed, but what was she supposed to do?

"_**I don't, my parents don't have let me have that…king of thing."**_

Hadn't she, Ran, opted to take her shopping for cards? To rebel against something so wrong as to not have your own deck? Penny was a quick learner, she _did_ put forth the effort to catch up on the Duel Monsters trend and made friends out of Ran and Minoru because of it.

Then they stole away to Duelist Kingdom, Ran momentarily forgot they weren't there for fun, that she agreed to help Penny with her quest for answers (even if she didn't fully understand what was going on.) Minoru never really knew, but instantly got caught up in the excitement of the tournament and threw it into Penny's face.

_It must have hurt really bad,_ the brunette thought, recalling what Minoru had said to Penny when she reached out.

"_**I didn't really come here for **__**you**__** and you KNOW that,"**_

Tears pricked at Ran's eyes and she backed away quietly so the movement would go unnoticed by the older kids, Minoru's eyes kept shifting between his depressed hero and Ran apparently torn between who he should try to help.

Ran felt terrible suddenly, remembering trying to convince Penny to stay, but it was the fact that she wanted to watch the duel between the country's dueling champion and Yugi Mutou – how selfish.

"_**What about him? And none of those decisions were made with me!**__** Don't tell me what to do!**__** For once in my life I escaped being TOLD what to do and someone like YOU is NOT going to take that away from me! I came here to speak to Pegasus! Not watch a bunch of stupid kids play fancy card games with ugly monsters!"**_

It clicked then, although it made Ran incredibly sad to hear Penny didn't like Duel Monsters it also made her angry too. That Penny had yelled at her, accused her of something she couldn't help but want. It made Ran equally angry that if it were not for Penny, she probably wouldn't of had the guts to get on the ship and remain quiet without breaking down on the voyage to the island.

Completely forgetting the real reason she came with Penny, what it meant to be a friend.

And now Penny has been running around the island, hopefully undetected by the mean guards and maybe in the castle now – who knows? Ran and the others hadn't seen Penny since she ran off.

The teenagers were concerned and when Tea asked Minoru and Ran where Penny went, they shrugged. Minoru claimed she ran off because she was scared of bugs, this scared them into thinking Penny was running amok the island without supervision (though of course, she is.) Ran didn't say anything more than that Penny wanted to go home and actually went to the boats to leave – both lies were believable, but little else to go on and no guards in sight to report Penny, the group had no choice but to drop the subject. It didn't keep them from scoping out the island in case Penny appeared though.

"Hey, what's going on?" a familiar voice asked, everyone turned their heads to find Mai Valentine standing a little ways afar from them. Her violet eyes scanned Yugi and Joey's gauntlets, they narrowed.

"Why are you standing around here Joey? You have ten star chips, why haven't you gone in yet?" she asked, quirking an eye brow. While the group explained to Mai what had just transpired, Minoru took the time to approach Ran.

"Hey, uh…you okay?" he asked awkwardly, by this time Ran had managed to swallow the feeling to cry and looked him in the eye – mildly startling Minoru.

"We need to find Penny-chan," she said firmly, Minoru blinked and looked at her incredulously.

"W-Why? She didn't want to stay with us," he shot back heatedly, thankfully the group of older kids and Mai had moved away and were apparently too caught up in the moment to pay attention to the two children.

"Can you keep a secret?" Ran suddenly started whispering, Minoru glanced at his heroes, Yugi and (as of recently) Joey. When he looked back at Ran, the drastic changes in mood made him nod his head seriously.

"Yeah," he answered.

"You can't tell anybody, not even Yugi-san?" she ended it off with a question in her voice, Minoru felt an anxious feeling well up inside him. Ever since they had joined forces with the teenagers, all Minoru _has_ been doing was talking with Yugi, Joey and Tristan. Since the strange dream with him and the others as Duel Monsters, he's been having a hard time conversing with Bakura – mostly due to the fact the monster he portrayed looked gruesomely feminine.

"Um…sure," he replied, she frowned.

"Pinky promise?" she proposed, raising an extended pinky finger as she practically dared him to lie to her with her eyes.

Minoru seemed to have been struggling with some inner turmoil, but in the end when his pinky finger wrapped around Ran's he knew there was no going back – no one ever broke a pinky promise!

Ran sighed with satisfaction.

"All right," she held a hand to her mouth to muffle her words so as the nearby group wouldn't hear them, Minoru had to lean forward to catch what she had to say. "You didn't know it, but Penny-chan came here to find out if she was related to Pegasus-san."

The reaction was nearly immediate, Ran had to quickly shove her hand over his mouth to keep him from laughing outright and getting unwanted attention.

"Tphems deprum," Minoru growled through her hand after his laughter died down, when Ran didn't he began licking her palm. With a disgusted yelp Ran removed her hand and wiped it on her shirt.

"You're so gross!" she hissed.

"And you're so full of it! I knew there was something weird about her," Minoru claimed quietly, not wanting his idols to hear this crazy talk so he too kept his voice unusually small. Mai and Tea were going on about a duel.

"It's true, she may be – I mean, Pegasus-san _could_ be related to her, she said she thinks she found her adoption papers in her father's study. She told me so when you weren't paying attention at your house, remember?" explained Ran in a matter-of-fact voice, Minoru huffed.

"Oh sure, what else did she tell you? Duel Monsters are real?" he joked, but the atmosphere that fell over them with the last episode they had when Bakura appeared made his rethink his thoughts.

"Look, it's not possible, it's stupid." Minoru claimed blandly, Ran shook her head.

"It is _too_! They have the same _eye_ color!" she shot back, Minoru sighed with exasperation.

"Tons of people have the same eye color!" he retorted, Ran's eyes narrowed.

"You're so pessimistic," she said, he blinked.

"I'm what?"

"Never mind," Ran said, not wanting to say it was Penny who taught her that word. She was very smart, Ran figured, to remember her new vocab words so well.

"But we have to find her Minoru-kun, she could be hurt…or lost," Ran's imagination was starting to get to her and surprisingly, Minoru reached out to comfort her.

"Don't worry, Tristan told me as soon as we came across another guard they would tell her she got lost, they'll look for her then." Minoru said, this did reassure Ran, knowing it wasn't just her that was concerned about Penny.

"Yeah, but Penny doesn't like the guards," Ran said.

"Who does? They're all jerks," he agreed.

"You know, she thinks of us as her friends," stated Ran, Minoru frowned. "She told me she's never had friends before, cuz everyone at school thinks she's strange."

Minoru and Ran looked away from each other guiltily, knowing they always thought that as well.

"Well, I guess we will have to find her…that is if the guards don't, maybe she's already in the castle." Minoru thought out loud.

"I was hoping that too,"

**Return to Penny's POV**

_Half and hour later…_

I had been running for what felt like forever before coming across a corridor (three floors down) that led to a balcony. In fact, I didn't realize there was something more to the room that I was in until I heard an unfamiliar voice call out –

"Welcome finalists!" I fell back into the corridor and hid behind the doorway as on the opposite side, another man (a guard?) appeared with sunglasses like Kemo's. He came to a halt in the middle of the balcony and was looking down at something. Being as short as I am at my age, I didn't see Yugi and his gang (plus Ran and Minoru) on the opposing balcony.

"I am Croquet and the chief tournament liaison, for those of you have barged in uninvited I will contend with later." I gulped, not entirely sure of what he was going on about, a shiver ran down my back when I thought he might have seen me, but he paid me no heed.

"Congratulations for making it this far and because Pegasus-sama is so impressed with your dueling talents, he wishes to reward you with some entertainment – a match between Kaiba and himself!" he shouted in an official tone, "this should give the finalists an idea of what will be in store for them."

Someone said something in the further reaches of the room that I couldn't hear, but when I heard Croquet announce Pegasus' name, i automatically figured he might have been in this very room – down another floor from where I was standing. With Croquet standing on the same balcony, I couldn't risk showing myself while trying to pull up on the balcony to look down – I would have to go down and hope there was another doorway.

"Now why would Pegasus-sama do that?" Croquet responded to the voice I hadn't heard as I inched away from the doorway.

The voice that responded back was much louder than the one before.

"Because he's a grade-A nutcase!" That was definitely Joey, I thought and the others must surely be with him – including Ran and Minoru.

Now that I was mostly over what had transpired between us, I was rather excited over the idea of meeting up with Ran and Minoru. But seeing Pegasus in person took priority. How was I going to get down there?

"Just enjoy the match," was the last of what I heard from Croquet as I pelted down the corridor, looking for another stairwell.

**With Yugi and company**

Joey was holding Ran high enough for her to look over the balcony wall, Minoru was Tristan's charge. This made Ran's cheeks burn, considering Joey had been exceptionally nice about it. Yet setting sights on the world champion and Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters made her skin tingle. They were about to watch one of the most prized duels in all history, Minoru's eyes were wide and practically bulging with excitement as he too watched.

She took note the others were more grim, more serious about the event, especially Yugi. Ever since he had snapped out of the trance he was in, his eyes were determined and set.

When Pegasus entered with two of his guards, Ran almost gasped.

She hadn't been thinking of Penny until then, of course she had been concerned over her friend, but the moment she saw the silver-haired man Penny's eyes flashed into her mind. Granted, she couldn't see Pegasus' single orange eye from such a distance, but in a way, the two seemed to share the same aura – an intelligent, somewhat withdrawn energy.

Could Penny be right?

"Where is Mokuba?" Kaiba spoke for the first time, glaring harshly at the man.

"My, that's no way to speak to an old friend Kaiba-boy. Has kidnapping Mokuba and seizing control of your company put a rift between us?" Pegasus replied, Ran and Minoru exchanged shocked expressions. "It's nothing personal Kaiba-boy, besides, you can have Mokuba back if you beat me in a duel."

Something gold glinted from behind Pegasus' platinum hair, but Ran didn't catch what it was, Minoru's eyes were narrowed on something surprisingly not one of the two duelists. His gaze was focused on something at the door Pegasus had entered through.

"One little victory shouldn't be a problem for the Duel Monsters world champ should it? Just enjoy this most wonderful duel," Pegasus continued, Ran felt he sounded confident he would win no matter what Kaiba threw at him.

_As the creator of the game, he should be really good right?_ She thought, she felt Minoru nudge her in the arm, Joey and Tristan didn't take notice.

"_Look,_" he mouthed, pointing discreetly at the door he had been staring at. Ran's eyes widened in recognition.

**Penny POV**

I slammed my back into the wall, this was the door Pegasus had just walked through. Now that I was here, WHAT was I to do? I figured I could just look through it to watch the back of the man I believed to be my real father, but what then? Watch from a distance, listen to him duel, then confront him after the whole thing is over?

My heart was racing uncomfortably fast and I was vaguely aware my brain was malfunctioning for the first time I could remember.

His voice, I could hear him and it only sent my mind reeling anymore.

Was that the voice of my father?

Yet it wasn't what Pegasus sounded like more than what he was saying that was making me sweat.

"My, that's no way to speak to an old friend Kaiba-boy. Has kidnapping Mokuba and seizing control of your company put a rift between us?" I shut my eyes tightly, _no, he didn't – he wouldn't!_

The man I believed to be my father, I _hoped_ to be my father – _kidnapped Mokuba?_

"W-Why?" my voice sounded small and feeble, the words just barely passing through my lips.

"It's nothing personal Kaiba-boy, besides, you can have Mokuba back if you beat me in a duel."

That's right, he's not completely bad – nobody's completely bad right? Sometimes Father would yell at me, but try and soothe me later. He told me fathers sometimes had to shout at their children to get them to listen, to make them learn, told me there were worse fathers out there.

Was he referring to Pegasus? Did he know something about Pegasus and that was the reason I was taken from him? Adopted by the Kimuras? Did Pegasus prove to be a horrible father to the point some social workers took me from him? What about my mother? Surely Pegasus was married to have a kid right? Where was _she_?

The thought of my real mother made time seem to stop, my heart seemed to slow down and an unknown feeling I've never felt before settled heavily on my being.

I had been so obsessed with tracking down Pegasus, I forgot to imagine my real mother. Now that the thought had occurred to me…my heart grew light and fluttery, I imagined if Pegasus had silver hair, then my mother would have blonde hair. What were the color of her eyes? Was I like her at all? Was she kind, caring, and sweet? Would she have read me stories at night (something only my Auntie Ai did on occasion) and taught me to bake? Would she have…

_Hugged_ me? _Kissed _me good night? Held my hand when we walked in the park and got me _Hello Kitty_ stuffed animals and cups?

Would she have told me she…_loved me?_

I hugged myself with the thoughts of my real mother whirring inside my head like a typhoon as Pegasus continued to talk outside the door. Every now and then I would look through it, I would stand there and stare at the back of the man that could be my father, my real father.

The man who gave me up.

The man who had apparently kidnapped Mokuba.

I hurried out of sight when one of the guards took a look around the room, afraid he would see me out of the corner of his eyes.

Pegasus continued to speak, I felt the urge to put my hands over my ears, but found that I couldn't.

"Should I spin it like a top or roll it like a ball?" Pegasus spoke then something hit the floor and rolled away, I heard the gaurds take off after it. I heard footsteps coming up beside me. I didn't have a chance to move when someone grabbed my upper arm and somebody clapped. I struggled against the man who held my arm, I peered up to find it was another guard. My eyes fell on something else, or someone else.

Mokuba, but he didn't acknowledge my presence.

"Mokuba…" I whispered, in shock of the turn of the events, I had stopped struggling.

"Here," the guard growled gruffly as he tossed me into the awaiting arms of another guard. Just in time the guard dragged Mokuba through the door. The guard put a hand over my mouth.

"Now look at what the cat dragged in, your new friends told me you got lost huh?" it was Kemo, I bit his hand in another desperate attempt to escape his clutches.

"PEGASUS!" I called out when Kemo cried out when he took his gorilla-like hand from my face. He quickly put his hand back where it was, muttering under his breath about 'stupid kids.'

"He doesn't have time for you brat, come on." He went to drag me away, but when I proved to be hostile, he merely picked me up.

This time, no one was taking me to a part of the castle, I was fairly certain Kemo was taking me straight to the docks to load me on a boat back to Domino City. I struggled and flailed to no use, the man held me down so tightly that my muscles stood absolutely no chance. But I was so close – why didn't I just run out to Pegasus when I had the chance and shouted at him until he answered my questions? Why didn't I run as soon as I heard those footsteps? What was wrong with Mokuba?

Kemo was taking me through what must have been the skeleton of the castle, taking hidden doorways and trick entrances as he weaved through stone passages. Never once entering the shiny tiled floors and intricate walls of the interior of the castle. These passage ways were lit by torches in brackets, giving off an orange flow wherever we went. When at last another door opened without Kemo's permission, a guard appeared before us.

"Kemo sir, we have company." He said, Kemo huffed.

"Really? Who? Everyone is at the duel," he snarled, the guard gave off an unusually eerie feeling, he was smirking.

"They want the girl sir," he replied, getting closer. His eyes glinted evilly, even Kemo was put off by the guard's behavior.

"Oh? And they would know of the brat because?" questioned Kemo.

"It's the Big Five, sir," the guard replied coolly, I felt Kemo stiffen behind me.

"The Big Five? Here? Go and tell Pegasus-sama immediately!" Kemo barked, but the guard didn't move.

"What are you standing there for?" Kemo bellowed, "I gave you an order!"

"I'm afraid," the guard began, "that I'm on a different payroll."

"What?" At this moment the guard made a move to snatch me from Kemo's clutches, but he moved swiftly out of the way (something I would never have given him credit for if I hadn't seen it.) The guard unsheathed a hidden dagger, pointing it at Kemo.

"Hand her over Kemo," the guard growled through his sneer, "the Big Five require her."

"For what? What does this _brat_ have anything to do with them?" Kemo shouted, hurting my ears. The guard smirk darkened.

"In addition to Kaiba Corp, as Pegasus so happily gives his cooperation, _she'll_ give them Industrial Illusions."

* * *

** A/N:**

_If something seems off about the quotes from the show, be aware I didn't take the quotes off exactly. I haven't seen it in so long that I've been reading off of episode summaries LOL. So the quotes could be exactly right, but I have no idea - I've been combining English and Japanese quotes, so don't be too confused (actually, I'm gonna ask for a small favor - try NOT to be so focused on the episodes.) I hate it when people take the script off the show and merely change a couple of things for their characters, I HATE that. I try to take the episode and do what I can with it in my own way - not in the exact way the episode shows it._

So obviously things are getting darker and more interesting, since I don't have much an outline planned for this story, I'm just flowing with it and so far, I like what my hands are typing.

And trust me, I can't wait till Penny and Pegasus' first encounter!


End file.
